Hurricanes Down Oil Kings 5-2 on Thanksgiving Monday
Edmonton, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to the win column on Monday afternoon as they earned a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place.
Edmonton had a good start to the game as they outshot Lethbridge in the early going. The Oil Kings had a trio of power play opportunities in the first period and made good on their second chance as Rilen Kovacevic netted his fourth goal of the season at the 13:04 mark to make it 1-0; Rhys Pederson and Marshall Finnie earned the assists on the goal. Edmonton had a late chance on the power play but couldn’t add to their lead as it remained a 1-0 lead for the home-side after the first period. The Oil Kings outshot the Hurricanes 12-6 in the first period.
A wild second period saw the teams combine for five goals with the Hurricanes scoring four of them. Lethbridge answered to tie the game with a power play as Kooper Gizowski wired home his first goal as a Hurricane at the 6:50 mark to make it 1-1; Tristen Doyle and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. Edmonton answered back with a power play goal of their own when Marc Lajoie had a centering pass deflect off a Hurricanes defenceman and passed Harrison Meneghin – who made 29-saves after two periods – to put the Oil Kings back in front 2-1. The ‘Canes tied the game just 25-seconds later as Carter Dereniwsky scored his second of the season to even the score 2-2. Lethbridge struck twice with a five-on-three power play – first, Marques ripped home his second goal of the year at the 15:07 mark to give the Hurricanes their first lead of the game before Dereniwsky buried his second goal of the period just 51-seconds later to give the ‘Canes a 4-2 advantage after two periods. Edmonton outshot Lethbridge 19-14 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Oil Kings generated some good chances in hopes of chipping into the Lethbridge lead, but Meneghin was terrific stopping all nine Edmonton shots. Meneghin was forced to make a huge save on Aiden Litke on a back-door chance to keep the ‘Canes ahead by a 4-2 score. The Oil Kings continued to press while pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker but Joe Arntsen found the empty-net for his first goal of the season to give the Hurricanes a 5-2 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 40-29 in the contest. Lethbridge went 3/6 on the power play while Edmonton was 2/8 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #35 Harrison Meneghin (38-saves)
2) Oil Kings – #24 Marc Lajoie (1 goal)
3) ‘Canes – #23 Carter Dereniwsky (2 goals)
The victory for the Hurricanes improves their overall record to 5-2-0-0 to start the season. The win ended a two-game road losing streak for the ‘Canes as they now sit 3-2-0-0 away from home while finishing 2-1-0-0 in Edmonton this season. In addition, the victory puts the Hurricanes into top spot in the Eastern Conference standings with 10 points.
Lethbridge will return to the ENMAX Centre to face the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday at 7:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
