Hurricanes Doubled 6-3 by Hitmen
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes began a three-in-three weekend against the Calgary Hitmen with a 6-3 loss at Seven Chiefs Sportsplex on Friday afternoon.
Calgary – who hadn’t played in 18 days – came out of the gate flying as they peppered the Hurricanes in the opening twenty minutes. The Hitmen opened the scoring at the 7:41 mark as Josh Prokop scored his team-leading seventh of the season to make it 1-0 Calgary. That goal started a span of four goals for the Hitmen in a span of 3:11. The Hitmen made it 2-0 as Cael Zimmerman banged home a loose puck before a pair of goals in 50-seconds by Adam Kydd gave Calgary a commanding 4-0 lead. The fourth goal chased starting goaltender Carl Tetachuk who was replaced by rookie netminder Jared Picklyk for the second straight contest; Picklyk stopped all six shots he saw in the back-half of the first period. Calgary led the shots 16-10 in the first period.
The Hurricanes picked up their game to start the second period as they kept the ice tipped toward the same net as the Hitmen did in the first period. The ‘Canes got on the board at the 5:32 mark as Alex Cotton ripped home his sixth of the season from the blueline on a slapshot to make it 4-1; Liam Kindree and Justin Hall earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge cut the Calgary lead to two as a puck banged off the goaltender Brayden Peters less the two minutes later; Cotton was credited with the goal, which was his 100th WHL point. The Hurricanes made it a one-goal game with a shorthanded goal by Dino Kambeitz at the 12:47 mark to make it 4-3; Ty Nash earned the only assist on the goal – the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Hurricanes. However, before the period was out, the Hitmen restored some insurance as Brandon Whynott scored his first WHL goal with 56-seconds left to make it a 5-3 game after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Hurricanes looked to continue to chip away at the Calgary lead as they had some great chances but Peters stood tall in the Hitmen goal. Chase Wheatcroft has the best look at the side of the net midway through the period but Peters denied him with a right pad save to keep it a two-goal lead for Calgary. The Hitmen iced the victory with an empty-net goal by Riley Stotts with 1.8-seconds left in the game to make it a 6-3 final.
The Hurricanes were outshot 36-34 in the contest. Lethbridge went 0/3 on the power play while Calgary was 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game:
1) Hitmen – #23 Adam Kydd (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #28 Alex Cotton (2 goals)
3) Hitmen – #27 Brandon Whynott (1 goal)
The loss for Hurricanes was their second straight defeat as they fall to 7-9-2-0 on the campaign. The defeat drops the ‘Canes road record to 3-4-2-0 on the year while falling to 1-2-1-0 against the Hitmen this season through the first four meetings.
The Hurricanes will welcome the Hitmen on Saturday night at the ENMAX Centre at 7:00pm before returning to Calgary for the final meeting of the season on Sunday. The games can be streamed on WHL LIVE on the new CHL TV or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
