Hurricanes Doubled 6-3 by Thunderbirds
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their second-straight defeat on Wednesday falling 6-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Newcomers Kyle Heger and Oli Chenier made their Hurricanes debuts in the game after being acquired via trade by Lethbridge while the Thunderbirds had five players make their team debuts in the contest. It was a great start for Seattle as they jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage just 12-seconds into the game when new addition Cameron Schmidt burst into the zone and centered a pass to Coster Dunn who buried his 17th goal of the season give the T-Birds the early lead. The Thunderbirds doubled their lead at the 7:37 mark when 16-year-old Brock England broke free on a breakaway before ripping a shot over the glove of Leif Oaten to make it 2-0. Lethbridge answered late in the period with 1:36 remaining as Tyden Lafournaise scored his fourth goal of the season to cut the Seattle lead to 2-1; Carsen Adair and Kayden Longley picked up the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes outshot the Thunderbirds 9-6 in the first period.
Seattle opened the second period on a power play with just over a minute remaining on a Kade Duell hooking penalty, but Lethbridge was able to hold the T-Birds man advantage off the sheet. The Thunderbirds opened a two-goal lead on a shorthanded goal by Dunn who fired a shot short-side to make it a 3-1 lead. Exactly one minute later, the Hurricanes answered with a goal by Adair who finished a centering pass by Nathan Maloney to cut the deficit back to one and a 3-2 game; Lafournaise earned the secondary assist. In the final minute of the frame, the Thunderbirds restored their two-goal lead when Schmidt broke free on a defensive zone turnover before outwaiting Oaten to make it a 4-2 game with his 28th goal of the year. Shots were even 10-10 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes pulled back to within a goal at the 7:27 mark when Lafournaise finished for his fifth goal of the season – and second of the game – to make it a 4-3 game; Maloney and Owen Berge earned the assists on the goal as Lafournaise recorded his first career two-goal and three-point game. The Hurricanes continued to press, but a goal with 3:25 remaining by Tai Riley restored a two-goal advantage with his second of the year. Seattle sealed the victory when Ethan Bibeau scored an empty-net goal with 2:01 remaining in regulation making it a 6-3 final. The T-Birds outshot the Hurricanes 12-10 in the third period.
The Hurricanes and Thunderbirds each had 29 shots in the game. Lethbridge was 0/5 on the power play while Seattle was 0/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #12 Tyden Lafournaise (2 goals, 1 assist)
2) Thunderbirds – #9 Coster Dunn (2 goals)
3) Thunderbirds – #27 Cameron Schmidt (1 goal, 1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their second-straight defeat as they fell to 1-6-0-0 in their last seven games. Lethbridge’s home record fell to 7-7-0-1 in their last 15 games at home with their record falling to 7-12-0-1 on the year at the VisitLethbridge.com Arean. The ‘Canes overall record slipped to 12-27-0-1 on the season.
The Hurricanes will visit the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday at 7:00pm before facing the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday at 4:00pm at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday, January 14th when they welcome the Red Deer Rebels 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.ca.
