Hurricanes Doubled 4-2 by Raiders on Wednesday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered a 4-2 loss on Wednesday to the Prince Albert Raiders at the ENMAX Centre.
It was the first of four meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Raiders as the ‘Canes played the second of a three-home stand. It was a tentative first period that saw Lethbridge outshot by Prince Albert 8-7 in the opening frame. The best chance of the period came on a partial two-on-one for the Hurricanes as Leo Braillard ripped one on goal by Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand made a good save to keep the game scoreless after twenty minutes of play. The Hurricanes went 0/2 on the power play in the first period.
In the first minute of the second period, the Hurricanes opened the scoring as Braillard made good beating Hildebrand over the glove for his fourth goal of the season to make it a 1-0 Lethbridge lead; Noah Chadwick earned the only assist on the goal. Prince Albert evened the game with a power play goal as Brayden Dube cut out of the corner and beat Harrison Meneghin to make it a 1-1 game. In the final minute of the period, the Raiders pulled ahead with a goal off the rush by Ryder Ritchie who buried his team-leading 11th goal of the season to put Prince Albert ahead 2-1 after forty minutes. Shots in the middle frame favoured the Raiders 14-11.
In the third period, in the opening minute the Raiders had a great chance as Ritchie was sprung on a breakaway but was hauled down resulting in a penalty shot just 39-seconds into the period. On the penalty shot, Ritchie was stopped by Meneghin to keep the game 2-1. Just over ten minutes later, Miguel Marques was credited with a penalty shot as well and while making a move to the back-hand, Marques put a shot just wide of the net as both penalty shots failed to produce a goal. Prince Albert added to their lead with a power play goal at the 11:50 mark as Justice Christensen beat a screened Meneghin with a point-shot to make it a 3-1 Raider lead. Just under two-minutes later, the ‘Canes struck to get back to within a goal as Kooper Gizowski buried his fifth goal in six games – and sixth of the season – to make it a 3-2 contest; Elias Knoester and Blake Swetlikoff were credited with the assists on the goal. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender late for the extra-attacker but Prince Albert added an empty-net goal to seal a 4-2 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 10-8 in the third period and 32-26 in the game. Lethbridge was 0/3 on the power play while Prince Albert went 2/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Raiders – #7 Justice Christensen (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Raiders – #21 Ryder Ritchie (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #28 Leo Braillard (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their fourth-straight home loss dropping their record to 0-3-1-0 in that span. The ‘Canes are now 5-3-2-0 at the ENMAX Centre while their overall record slipped to 9-8-2-0 on the season.
Lethbridge will end a three-game homestand on Friday when they welcome the Wenatchee Wild on Friday at 7:00pm before embarking on a five-game BC Division road trip. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
