Hurricanes Downed 6-1 Wednesday by Oil Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their second-straight home loss on Wednesday as they dropped a 6-1 decision to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the ENMAX Centre.
The game was the first of four games in five days for the Hurricanes who played their third last home game of the regular season. Edmonton – who earned a 2-1 victory just three-weeks prior in Lethbridge – had a good start to the game as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Smyth Rebman buried a rebound for his eighth goal of the season just 2:49 into the game; Landon Hansen and John Szabo earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes answered to tie the game just under six-minutes later when Brayden Edwards scored his team-leading 28th goal of the season at the 8:43 mark on a power play to make it a 1-1 game; Logan Wormald and Noah Chadwick picked up the helpers on the equalizer. The ’Canes outshot Edmonton 9-3 in the first period as the game was tied after twenty minutes.
The Hurricanes started the second on a carry-over power play from late in the first period but couldn’t strike to pull in front. Lethbridge had another man advantage just a few minutes later when Skyler Bruce was assessed a high-sticking penalty. The ‘Canes had a pair of great opportunities as Wormald was stopped on a tic-tac-toe passing play on a back-door feed by Oil Kings netminder Kolby Hay before Edwards rang a shot off the goal post keeping the game tied. Edmonton pulled ahead right after the Bruce penalty expired an on odd-man rush when Adam Jecho rifled home his 20th goal of the season to give the Oil Kings a 2-1 lead at the 7:36 mark of the middle frame. The Hurricanes continued to press in the second period but couldn’t solve Hay as Edmonton held the one-goal lead after two periods. Lethbridge held the edge in shots 11-5 in the second period and led the shots 20-8 through forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Oil Kings took over as they outshot the Hurricanes 13-4 in the final frame. Edmonton struck on a power play just 1:05 into the game when Jecho scored his second of the night – and 21st of the season – to added to the Oil Kings lead making it 3-1; Marc Lajoie and Ty Nash picked up the assists on the goal. Just over four-minutes later, Edmonton struck again on another power play when Lajoie struck for his 21st goal of the season. The Oil Kings added two more goals before the end of the game as Cole Miller snapped home his ninth of the season at the 11:53 mark before Szabo banged home Edmonton’s third power play goal of the period to make it a 6-1 advantage.
The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 24-21 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/4 on the power play while Edmonton was 3/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Oil Kings – #43 Adam Jecho (2 goals, 2 assists)
2) Oil Kings – #24 Marc Lajoie (1 goal, 2 assists)
3) Oil Kings – #30 Kolby Hay (21-saves)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their second straight home-ice loss as their home record slipped to 17-9-5-0 on the season. Lethbridge’s record fell to 6-3-0-0 in their last nine contests while their overall record fell to 30-28-5-0 on the season. The ‘Canes finished the regular season with a 3-3-0-0 record against the Oil Kings.
The Hurricanes will play their penultimate home game of the regular season on Friday when they welcome the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00pm at the ENMAX Centre in the first of a three-in-three weekend. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
