Hurricanes Doubled 8-4 by Silvertips on Friday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes had their three-game home winning streak end on Friday with an 8-4 loss to the Everett Silvertips at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge entered with a 4-2-0-0 record in their previous six games after splitting a pair of games in Saskatchewan as they welcomed the Everett Silvertips for the first time in over two years. It was a wild opening period as the ‘Tips opened the scoring at the 7:05 mark when Kayd Ruedig walked around a ‘Canes defender before rifling home his 14th goal of the season to make it 1-0; Jaxon Pisani and Zackary Shantz earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge responded just over a minute later when Kade Duell wired home his 14th goal to tie the game 1-1; Kayden Longley picked up the lone helper on the goal. Everett pulled back in front at 11:03 when Jaxsin Vaughan banged home a rebound for his 19th goal on a power play to make it 2-1. The Hurricanes had a great chance to tie the game on a partial breakaway by Kyle Heger, but he was stopped by Raiden LeGall. Shortly after, the ‘Tips added to their lead when Shantz tucked home his 22nd goal. Just over two minutes later, Everett struck again when Julius Miettinen scored his 22nd of the season to make it a 4-1 game; Landon DuPont and Tarin Smith earned the assists on the goal as the Silvertips held a three-goal lead after one period. The Hurricanes were outshot 18-8 in the opening period.
Early in the second period, the Hurricanes cut the Silvertip lead in half when Oli Chenier buried his seventh of the season at the 3:50 mark to make it 4-2; Duell and Matteo Fabrizi picked up the assists on the goal. At the 5:13 mark, the ‘Tips restored their two-goal lead when DuPont wired home his 14th goal with a shot off the right-wing that beat Koen Cleaver over the blocker putting Everett in front 5-2. Everett opened a four-goal lead at the 10:44 mark when Jesse Heslop banged home a loose puck in front of the net giving the Silvertips 6-2 lead; DuPont and Shantz earned the helpers. Lethbridge responded with a pair of quick goals to pull back to within two goals; Kai Anderson scored his 11th goal of the season at the 10:55 mark on a centering pass from Hudson Kibblewhite – Chenier earned the secondary assist. The ‘Canes struck again just 43-seconds later when Easton Daneault scored his ninth of the year to make it 6-4; Chenier picked up the lone helper on the tally. Before the end of the period, the Silvertips made it 7-4 when Carter Bear scored his team-leading 25th goal of the season at the 13:47 mark before Hunter Rudolph scored his third goal just under three-minutes later to open an 8-4 lead after forty minutes of play. Lethbridge was outshot 24-4 in the middle frame by Everett.
In the third period, the teams traded chances, but both Cleaver and LeGall stood tall in their respective creases. The Hurricanes had an early period power play when Mattias Uyeda was charged a delay of game penalty at the 6:03 mark, but Lethbridge failed to capitalize with the extra man. The ‘Canes failed to cut into the Silvertips lead as Everett hung on to an 8-4 victory. The Silvertips doubled the Hurricanes in shots 8-4 in the third period.
The Hurricanes were outshot 50-16 by the Silvertips in the game. Lethbridge went 0/4 on the power play while Everett was 1/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Silvertips – #19 Zackary Shantz (1 goal, 3 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #19 Oli Chenier (1 goal, 2 assists)
3) Silvertips – #9 Landon DuPont (1 goal, 2 assists)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended their three-game home winning streak as their home record slipped to 10-16-0-1 on the season. Lethbridge fell to 2-9-1-0 in their last 12 games against Everett while dropping their fifth-straight games to the Silvertips. The ‘Canes fell to 16-36-0-1 on the season.
The Hurricanes will continue a stretch of six games in six cities on Sunday afternoon at 4:00pm as they visit the Red Deer Rebels before visiting the Edmonton Oil Kings at 2:00pm on Monday afternoon. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, February 20th when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers 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.
