Hurricanes Down Broncos in First of Back-to-Back
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a three-game homestand on Friday with a 5-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos at the ENMAX Centre on LethVegas Night.
Elvis himself opened the game with his rendition on Oh Canada! And the Hurricanes came out buzzing outshooting the Broncos early in the game. Lethbridge opened the scoring with a power play goal at the 7:46 mark when Kooper Gizowski wired his 13th goal of the season to make it 1-0; Tristen Doyle and Logan McCutcheon picked up the assists on the goal which was the ‘Canes first power play goal at home in three games. Less than two minutes later, the Broncos evened the score as Caleb Wyrostok ripped a shot post-and-in to make it a 1-1 tie; Rylan Gould and Peyton Kettles earned the helpers on the goal to even the score. Lethbridge outshot Swift Current 9-3 in the first period, but the game was tied after twenty minutes.
The power play – which had gone just 1-for-22 in the previous eight games for the Hurricanes – continued to feel it early in the second period as the ‘Canes pulled ahead when Miguel Marques buried his team-leading fourth power play goal of the season beating Joey Rocha over the glove to give Lethbridge a 2-1 lead; Noah Chadwick and Brayden Edwards picked up the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes struck again on the man advantage just over five-and-a-half minutes later as Leo Braillard stuffed home a puck at the side of the goal for his seventh goal of the season to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead; Edwards and Logan Wormald were credited with the assists. Swift Current tipped the ice back in their favour in the second half of the period, however, as they pulled back to within one with a power play goal of their own when Connor Hvidston beat Harrison Meneghin over the glove at the 10:12 mark. The Broncos tied the game with 5:15 remaining in the frame when Josh Filmon pulled the trigger for his 10th goal of the season as the game was tied 3-3 after two periods. Swift Current held the edge in shots 15-11 in the second period.
In the third period, the Hurricanes opened the frame with a power play and struck to take the lead just 39-seconds into the period when Logan McCutcheon fired home his third goal of the season – and first in 23 games – to make it a 4-3 Lethbridge lead; Doyle and Gizowski picked up the assists on the goal. Brady Smith replaced Meneghin at the start of the third period after the ‘Canes starter fell ill at the end of the second period. Smith was sharp turning aside all 13 shots he faced in the final twenty minutes. The Hurricanes added an insurance goal with 7:27 remaining as Trae Wilke ended a 14-game goal drought cashing in a rebound on a Tyson Zimmer shot to make it 5-3; Braillard earned the second assist on the goal. Swift Current outshot Lethbridge 13-9 in the third period, but the Hurricanes hung on to the two-goal victory.
Lethbridge was outshot 31-29 in the contest by Swift Current. The Hurricanes went 4/5 on the power play – marking a season-high for power play goals in a game – while the Broncos were 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #2 Logan McCutcheon (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #19 Brayden Edwards (2 assists)
3) Broncos – #25 Clarke Caswell (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes ended a three-game homestand with a 2-1-0-0 record as their home-ice record improved to 8-4-2-0 and their overall record to 15-11-2-0 on the year. It was Lethbridge’s fourth straight victory against Swift Current as the ‘Canes improved to 7-1-0-0 in their last eight meetings against the Broncos.
The Hurricanes will visit the Broncos on Saturday night at 6:00pm at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current before returning to the ENMAX Centre on Wednesday, December 13th when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
