Hurricanes Downed in Overtime by Tigers in Final Meeting
Medicine Hat, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes were downed 6-5 in overtime on Saturday in the final of a home-and-home weekend against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Lethbridge made their final trip to Medicine Hat this season after falling 6-3 to the Tigers on Friday night at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena in the opening leg of the two-game weekend. The Hurricanes had a great start to the game as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Tomas Malinek just 6:09 into the contest as he tucked home his second goal of the season on a deke to the backhand; Kai Anderson earned the lone assist on the goal. The Tigers tied the game just over two-and-a-half minutes later when Kade Stengrim scored the first of three goals in the game at the 8:58 mark to even the score 1-1. At the 14:43 mark, the ‘Canes pulled back in front when Oli Chenier buried his ninth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 Lethbridge advantage; Hudson Kibblewhite and Kayden Longley earned the assists on the goal. Before the end of the period, the ‘Canes added another goal on a power play when Longley back-handed home his 14th goal to make it a 3-1 Lethbridge lead after one period; Kade Duell and Easton Daneault picked up the helpers on the marker. Medicine Hat outshot Lethbridge 13-9 in the first period.
Medicine Hat jumped out to a hot start to open the second period as they pulled to within a goal when Stengrim found his second of the game just 5:25 into the period to make it a 3-2 hockey game; Schaeffer Gordon-Carroll and Carter Cunningham were credited with assists on the goal. The ‘Canes responded, however, just 49-seconds later when Kai Anderson buried a one-timer over the blocker of Tigers goaltender Jordan Switzer after being set up by Longley who earned his third point of the game as Lethbridge restored a two-goal lead. The teams traded chances the rest of the period, but Switzer and Leif Oaten stood tall keeping it a 4-2 Lethbridge lead after forty minutes of play. Shots favoured the Tigers 11-5 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Tigers pressed keeping the Hurricanes on their heels for most of the frame outshooting Lethbridge 18-3 in the final twenty minutes. Medicine Hat cut the lead back to a goal for the second time when Liam Ruck buried his 42nd goal of the season to make it a 4-3 game just 6:21 into the period; Markus Ruck earned his 100th point of the season on the goal while Niilopekka Muhonen picked up the second assist. The ‘Canes answered 2:08 later on a two-on-one when Anderson fired home his second goal of the game to give Lethbridge a 5-3 advantage; Tyden Lafournaise and Matteo Fabrizi were credited with the assists. The Tigers continued to keep their foot on the gas as the Ruck line continued to press every other shift and the once again closed the gap when Markus Ruck tipped home his 20th goal at 9:54 to pull Medicine Hat to 5-4; Veeti Vaisanen and Josh Van Mulligen earned the helpers. With 4:30 remaining in regulation, the Tigers tied the game when Stengrim finished a back-door pass to complete the hat-trick while tying the game at 5-5; Van Mulligen and Gordon-Carroll picked up the helpers to tie the game and force overtime.
In the extra session, the Tigers had the only two shots and won the game to complete the comeback at the 1:56 mark when Liam Ruck tapped home his second goal of the game to lift Medicine Hat to the come-from-behind 6-5 overtime victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 44-17 in the contest by the Tigers. Lethbridge went 1/1 on the power play while Medicine Hat was 0/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Tigers – #21 Kade Stengrim (3 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #17 Kai Anderson (2 goals, 1 assist)
3) Tigers – #11 Schaeffer Gordon-Carroll (3 assists)
The loss for the Hurricanes extended their losing streak to six-straight games as they ended the season with an 0-6-2-0 record against the Tigers; it marked the first time in their history that Lethbridge failed to earn a victory in the season series against Medicine Hat. The ‘Canes record slipped to 2-11-3-0 in their last 16 games while their overall record fell to 17-44-3-1 on the year.
The Hurricanes will return to the VisitLethbridge.com arena on Wednesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00pm before hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings in their home finale on Friday at 7:00pm for Jersey’s Off Our Backs Night. 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.
