Hurricanes Down Oil Kings 3-1 in Dairy Queen Home Opener
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened the 2024-2025 regular season on Friday with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The ‘Canes started their 38th season in Lethbridge without four regulars as goaltender Harrison Meneghin, defenceman Noah Chadwick and forwards Miguel Marques and Brayden Edwards continue to attend National Hockey League Training Camps.
After the player and staff introductions, the Hurricanes came out with a plethora of early chances to open the scoring. Their best look came from Leo Braillard who found himself alone in the slot but he was stopped by Oil Kings overage goaltender Kolby Hay to keep it scoreless. Edmonton broke the goose-egg at the 9:49 mark when Landon Hanson fired one by Brady Smith to make it 1-0 Oil Kings; Gavin Hodnett earned the lone assist on the go-ahead goal. The Oil Kings had a power play late in the frame, but the ‘Canes were able to kill it off to keep it a one-goal deficit after twenty minutes of play. Edmonton outshot Lethbridge 12-7 in the first period.
The Hurricanes had a strong second period as they tied the game with a power play goal at the 4:27 mark on a give-and-go play off the rush between Hayden Pakkala and Logan McCutcheon who snapped home his first goal of the season to tie the game 1-1; goaltender Brady Smith picked up the second assist on the goal for his first point in the Western Hockey League. The ‘Canes came close to taking their first lead in the game when Braillard rifled a shot off the crossbar on another man advantage at the midway point. Lethbridge outshot 10-7 in the middle frame as it remained tied after forty minutes.
In the third period, the Hurricanes dominated the play outshooting the Oil Kings 9-1. Early in the frame, Lethbridge broke the tie when Kale Tipler ripped a slapshot that deflected off an Edmonton defender and into the net to give the ‘Canes a 2-1 lead; Pakkala and Luke Cozens earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes continued to carry the play in the period hemming the Oil Kings in their zone. The Hurricanes came close to extending their lead when Kash Andresen ripped a shot off the goal post to keep it 2-1. Edmonton couldn’t find traction and after pulling the goaltender took a penalty resulting in a Lethbridge power play. With five-seconds left, Braillard scored on a breakaway with the empty-net to round out the scoring lifting the Hurricanes to a 3-1 opening night victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 26-20 in the game. Lethbridge went 2/4 on the power play while going 2/2 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #22 Hayden Pakkala (2 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #2 Logan McCutcheon (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) Oil Kings – #23 Landon Hanson (1 goal)
The Hurricanes opened the season with a victory as they started the year 1-0-0-0 on the season. Lethbridge improved to 23-12-0-1 with two ties all-time in their home-opener history. The win improved the ‘Canes record to 7-3-0-1 in their last 11 home openers.
The ‘Canes will play their first road game of the new season on Saturday at 7:00pm as they visit the Red Deer Rebels at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, September 27th at 7:00pm when they welcome the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets for the home opener can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
