Hurricanes Downed 5-1 by Rebels on Wednesday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes had a two-game home winning streak end on Wednesday with a 5-1 loss to the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge opened the month of December after posting a 6-5-0-0 record in 11 games during the month of November. The Hurricanes had posted a 4-2-0-1 record in their last seven home games entering the game and they had a good start to the game jumping out to an early 1-0 lead when Easton Daneault scored his third of the season on a power play just 4:03 into the game to give the ‘Canes the early advantage; Brayden Smith and Kai Anderson picked up the helpers on the goal. Red Deer responded to tie the game at seven-minute mark when Kohen Lodge buried a shot right off a faceoff for his first of the season to make it 1-1. The Rebels took the lead with 6:57 remaining in the period as Matej Mikes – who picked up his first WHL point on Red Deer’s first goal – jammed home his first WHL goal to make it a 2-1 game; Keith McInnis and Nate Yellowaga earned the assists on the go-ahead goal. The ‘Canes gave up another goal before the end of the period when Owen Shadrick ripped a short side shot passed Koen Cleaver in the final minute as Red Deer took a 3-1 lead after twenty minutes of play. Shots favoured the Rebels 12-6 in the opening frame.
Red Deer continued to carry the play in the second period as they outshot Lethbridge 14-6 in the middle frame. The Rebels added to their lead with a power play goal at the 4:29 mark when Samuel Drancak wired a wrist shot passed a screened Cleaver to extend a personal point streak to 11-straight games; Beckett Hamilton and Talon Brigley picked up the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes had a power play midway through the period, but the best chance came on a two-on-nothing shorthanded for the Rebels only to see Cleaver make his best save of the night at the side of the net stopping Drancak. Lethbridge picked up their game in the final three minutes of the period and came close to pulling to within two when Daneault rifled a shot off the post. The ‘Canes pressed in the final minute after a power play, but Matthew Kondro was able to turn aside a Logan Wormald shot in the final seconds to keep the Rebels ahead 4-1 after two periods.
In the third, the Hurricanes started with just over a minute worth of power play time with the carry-over time of the Nate Yellowaga penalty. The ‘Canes failed to capitalize with the extra man to open the period as they remained down 4-1. At the 4:36 mark, Red Deer added to their lead when Shadrick potted his second goal of the game – and fourth of the season – to make it a 5-1 game; Noah Milford and Jake Missura were credited with the assists on the goal. Late in the game, the tensions overflowed as the two teams combined for a trio of fights in the final ten minutes of the game. Lethbridge was unable to solve Kondro who turned aside all eight shots the ‘Canes had in the period. Shots were tied 8-8 in the final twenty minutes as the Rebels earned the 5-1 victory improving to 3-1-0-0 against the Hurricanes this season.
The Hurricanes were outshot 34-20 in the contest by the Rebels. Lethbridge went 1/5 on the power play while Red Deer was 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Rebels – #23 Owen Shadrick (2 goals)
2) Rebels – #27 Matej Mikes (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘canes – #16 Easton Daneault (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their third defeat in their last four games while their record fell to 4-3-0-1 in their last eight home games. Lethbridge’s home record fell to 4-8-0-1 on the season while their overall record slipped to 9-18-0-1 on the year. The ‘Canes are now 6-6-0-0 in their last 12 games.
The ‘Canes will welcome the Wenatchee Wild on Friday at 7:00pm for the 29th annual Canadian Tire Teddy & Toque Toss at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena before ending a four-game homestand on Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen at 6:00pm. 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.ca.
