Hurricanes Double Tigers 6-3 Friday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes improved their record to a perfect 7-0-0-0 record against the Medicine Hat Tigers with a 6-3 victory Friday at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes had a great first period peppering Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow with a whopping 23 shots on goal. Despite outshooting the Tigers by 15 shots, the ‘Canes trailed 1-0 after for one period. Medicine Hat opened the scoring at the 6:49 mark when Rhett Parson buried a slapshot from the right circle passed Jared Picklyk to make it 1-0; Logan Barlage and Brayden Boehm earned the assists. After the goal, Lethbridge continued to fire away but could not solve Langkow as the Tigers led 1-0 after twenty minutes of play.
Medicine Hat added to their lead just 35-seconds into the second period when Boehm beat Picklyk five-hole on a partial breakaway to make it 2-0 Tigers. Exactly one-minute later, the Hurricanes cut the lead in half as Tyson Laventure banged home a loose puck for this 10th of the season to make it 2-1. The Hurricanes tied the game at 2-2 when Alex Thacker redirected a Chase Pauls point shot passed the Tigers netminder to even the contest. Lethbridge continued to pour the pressure on and would pull ahead when Brayden Edwards slipped a rebound home on a goal-mouth scramble to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game 3-2; Miguel Marques and Logan Wormald earned the helpers. The ‘Canes added another late in the period on a power play when Thacker snapped home his second of the game to make it 4-2 after two periods – it was the second multi-goal game of Thacker’s WHL career. The ‘Canes outshot the Tigers 19-8 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Tigers held the edge in shots 15-6 but it was the Hurricanes that would score twice. Just 5:24 into the frame, the ‘Canes scored their fifth unanswered goal when Hayden Smith lifted one over the shoulder of Langkow to make it 5-2; Laventure and Briley Wood picked up the assists on the goal. The Tigers answered back when Josh Van Mulligen rifled home his second of the season before Kade Nolan rounded out the scoring with a snapshot with 5:09 remaining to make it a 6-3 final.
The Hurricanes set a new season-high for shots in a game outshooting the Tigers 48-31 in the contest. Lethbridge went 1/5 on the power play while going 6/6 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #20 Alex Thacker (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #28 Tyson Laventure (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) Tigers – #28 Logan Barlage (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes ended a two-game home losing streak while improving their home-ice record to 15-13-2-1 on the season. The victory improved the ‘Canes overall record to 28-30-3-1 on the season as they leapfrog back into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hurricanes visit the Tigers on Saturday at 7:00pm before returning to welcome the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday, April 6th at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre or the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
