Hurricanes Blanked by Oil Kings on Saturday
Edmonton, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered a 6-0 shutout loss on Saturday in Edmonton to the Oil Kings at Rogers Place in their final visit to the Alberta Capital.
The Hurricanes entered after a 6-0 shutout victory on Friday over the Swift Current Broncos at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena to end a six-game losing streak as they made their final visit to Edmonton this season. Lethbridge had a great start to the game as they peppered Parker Snell early in the game with six shots on an early power play but were unable to capitalize with the extra man. The Hurricanes held the shot advantage 8-0 to start the game, but on the first shot of the game for the Oil Kings they took a 1-0 lead when Miroslav Holinka buried his team-leading 33rd goal of the season at the 4:52 mark; Lukas Sawchyn and Kayden Stroeder earned assists on the goal. Just 31-seconds later, Edmonton struck again on their third shot of the game when Kayden Gojsic buried a rebound for his sixth goal to make it 2-0; Carter Sotheran and Noa Ta’amu were credited with assists as the Oil Kings held a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes of play. Lethbridge outshot Edmonton 10-8 in the first period.
Edmonton took over in the second period as they more than doubled Lethbridge in shots, outshooting the Hurricanes 17-8 in the middle frame. The Oil Kings struck early to make it 3-0 when Aaron Obobaifo ripped a shot over the glove of Koen Cleaver just 3:08 into the period; Austin Zemlak picked up the lone assist on the goal. Edmonton struck again with two goals in a span of 1:02 at the midway point of the period when Gojsic redirected home his second goal of the game to make it 4-0 before Ethan MacKenzie banged home a rebound for his 20th goal to make it a 5-0 Oil Kings lead. The fifth goal marked the end of the night of Cleaver who was replaced by Leif Oaten. At the 16:09 mark, the Oil Kings added another goal when Josh Lee chipped home a loose puck for his eighth goal of the season to make it 6-0 after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Oil Kings outshot the Hurricanes 10-2 as the final twenty minutes cruised by with just six faceoffs in the entire 20-minutes. Edmonton failed to add to their lead as Oaten was strong in the third period while Snell wasn’t tested but twice as he held on to earn his second-straight shutout while the ‘Canes were on the wrong end of a 6-0 score.
The Hurricanes were outshot 35-20 by the Oil Kings in the contest. Lethbridge went 0/4 on the power play while Edmonton was 0/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Oil Kings – #80 Parker Snell (20-save shutout)
2) Oil Kings – #12 Kanjyu Gojsic (2 goals)
3) Oil Kings – #34 Aaron Obobaifo (1 goal, 1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their seventh defeat in their last eight games, falling to 5-7-2-0 in their last 14 contests. Lethbridge’s road record slipped to 6-22-2-0 on the year as their overall record fell to 17-40-2-1 this season. The loss for the Hurricanes slipped their record to 1-6-0-0 against Edmonton with one game remaining in the season series.
The Hurricanes will continue a stretch of three-straight road games next Friday, March 6th when they visit the Regina Pats at 6:00pm MT at the Brandt Centre before visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday, March 11th when they welcome the Regina Pats at 7:00pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.
