Hurricanes Down Tigers 4-1 to Enter Christmas Break
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended the first-half on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge looked to go into the Christmas break on a winning-note and lead the WHL with home-ice victories. The Hurricanes didn’t take long to open the scoring as Noah Chadwick ripped home his ninth goal of the year just 1:24 into the game with a blast from the left point that beat Zach Zaharao on the glove side to make it 1-0 with an unassisted goal. Medicine Hat pushed back and came close to an equalizing goal on a back-door chance for Mathew Ward, but Jackson Unger who made his fifth start with the ‘Canes, slid across to make a great save to keep it a Lethbridge lead. The Hurricanes had a pair of breakaway chances as both Luke Cozens and Logan McCutcheon were sprung on in-tight solo chances, but Zahara make great stops on both looks. Lethbridge doubled their lead with a four-on-three power play goal by Will Sharpe who was setup by Kooper Gizowski to make it 2-0; Chadwick earned the second assist as the Hurricanes led 2-0 after twenty minutes of play. Shots favoured Lethbridge 10-7 in the opening period.
The Tigers had a good start to the second period as they cut the Hurricanes lead in half when Ethan Neutens buried his second of the year on a two-on-one to make it a 2-1 game; Lethbridge product Carter Cunningham and Kadon McCann earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge, who started the period flat, found their game and took the game back over. The ‘Canes had another great scoring chance when Cozens was set up in front, but Zahara robbed him again. Lethbridge restored their two-goal lead at the 15:14 mark as Shane Smith ended a 13-game goal drought with his fifth goal of the season and first against his former team to make it 3-1; Brayden Edwards earned the lone assist on the goal. Lethbridge outshot Medicine Hat 10-8 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes and Tigers both registered 11-shots on goal. Lethbridge continued to press and creating scoring chances with a great opportunity for Cozens to finally break through, but again Zahara stood tall. The Hurricanes delivered the proverbial knock-out punch at the 11:16 mark when Gizowski wired a wrist-shot into the top shelf to make it a 4-1 game; Edwards earned the lone assist on the goal. The two teams had a spirited finish to the contest with continual post-whistle scrums, but the Tigers were unable to chip into the Lethbridge lead as the Hurricanes hung on to the victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 31-26 in the contest marking the fourth-straight game, and sixth time in the last seven contests, that Lethbridge has outshot the opponent. The ‘Canes went 1/3 on the power play while going 6/6 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #8 Noah Chadwick (1 goal, 1 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #10 Shane Smith (1 goal)
3) ‘Canes – #19 Brayden Edwards (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes improved their record to 5-1-0-0 in their last six games as it was their fifth-straight home victory. Lethbridge improved to a WHL-best 13-2-1-0 on home ice while their overall record lifted to 17-11-1-1 on the season. The ‘Canes enter the Christmas break sitting third in the Eastern Conference, sitting three points back of the Tigers for top spot in the Conference. Lethbridge improved to 3-1-0-0 against Medicine Hat so far this season while improving to 13-1-1-0 in their last 15 home games against the Tigers.
The Hurricanes will return to action to open the second-half on Friday, December 27th when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Tickets 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.
