Hurricanes Clinch Home-Ice Advantage with 5-3 Win Over Raiders
Lethbridge, AB –
The Lethbridge Hurricanes played the third of a six-game homestand on Wednesday as they earned a 5-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Miguel Marques returned to the Hurricanes lineup after a 36-game absence due to injury. The ‘Canes had a great start to the game as they came out firing with a great early chance by Marques who was robbed by Raiders’ goaltender Max Hildebrand on a point-blank chance just five-minutes into the game. Lethbridge had an early power play opportunity to in the contest, but Prince Albert was able to kill the man advantage. Hildebrand robbed Leo Braillard on another glorious chance from the slot as he flashed the glove to keep the game scoreless. The Raiders struck to open the scoring at the 12:31 mark when Riley Boychuk slipped a shot through the legs of Jackson Unger to make it 1-0 Prince Albert; Ty Meunier and Rilen Kovacevic picked up the assists on the goal. Just under five-minutes later, the Raiders doubled their lead as Brayden Dube lifted home a back-hand shot on a breakaway to make it 2-0; Aiden Oiring and Daxon Rudolph picked up the assists on the goal. Lethbridge cut the lead back to one just 27-sceonds later when Braillard stuffed home his 25th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 one; Marques picked up an assist on the goal in his return to the lineup while Carsen Adair earned the second assist. The Hurricanes outshot the Raiders 11-7 in the opening period.
Lethbridge pulled even early in the second period with a five-on-three power play at the 2:48 mark when Logan Wormald scored his team-leading 30th goal of the year to make it a 2-2 contest; Wormald reaching the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career as Brayden Edwards and Brayden Yager picked up the helpers on the equalizer. Prince Albert pulled back in front less than four-minutes later as Oiring tapped home his 25th goal on a centering pass from Lukas Dragicevic at the 6:45 mark giving the Raiders a 3-2 lead. The Hurricanes kept their foot on the gas and came close to once again tying the game on a partial two-on-one, but Hildebrand made a miraculous glove save on a rebound chance for Luke Cozens to keep the Raiders in front by a goal. Lethbridge once again did tie the game at the midway point of the period as Kooper Gizowski tapped home his 14th goal of the year earning his 11th point in his last 11 games to pull the game even 3-3; Edwards and Logan McCutcheon were credited with the assists. The ‘Canes had a great look right at the end of period as Noah Chadwick stepped into a shot near the buzzer, but the puck deflected wide as the horn sounded. The Hurricanes outshot the Raiders 19-8 in the middle frame.
In the third period, Lethbridge outshot Prince Albert 8-4 as they came close to taking their first lead when Shane Smith was robbed alone in front of the net on two back-to-back chances by Hildebrand to keep the game tied. The Raiders looked to pull back in front when Dube was sprung on a breakaway, but he was hooked by a back-checking Marques before hitting the goal post with a shot; Prince Albert earned their lone power play of the game but failed to score with the extra man. Lethbridge pressed late in the game for a go-ahead goal and pulled in front with just 31.1-seconds left in the game when Gizowski ripped home his second of the game to give the ‘Canes a 4-3 advantage; Wormald picked up the lone assist on the goal. Prince Albert pulled the goaltender in the dying seconds in hopes of a tying goal, but Logan McCutcheon found the empty-net for his ninth goal of the season; Yager earned the lone assist on the goal which was his 200th WHL helper. Lethbridge outshot Prince Albert 8-4 in the third period.
The Hurricanes outshot the Raiders 38-19 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/3 on the power play while Prince Albert was 0/1 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #15 Kooper Gizowski (2 goals)
2) Raiders – #30 Max Hildebrand (33-saves)
3) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (1 goal, 1 assist)
The win for the Hurricanes was their fourth-straight victory while extending a point-streak to eight consecutive games going 7-0-0-1 in that span as they secured home-ice advantage in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Lethbridge’s overall record lifted to 41-19-2-2 on the season while their home-ice record improved to 24-6-1-0 on the year. The ‘Canes finish the regular season with a 20-4-0-1 record against East Division opponents.
The Hurricanes will continue their homestand on Friday when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm before hosting the Calgary Hitmen at 6:00pm on Saturday at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
