Hurricanes Drop 4-1 Decision to Rockets
Kelowna, BC – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued their season-long five-game road trip on Tuesday with a 4-1 loss to the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place.
The visit by the Hurricanes marked their first trip to Kelowna since March 7, 2020 – their final game before the COVID-19 pandemic – a span of 1,355 days. The ‘Canes who entered on a three-game winning streak had a good start against the Rockets who had lost their previous nine games entering play. Lethbridge peppered Kelowna’s netminder Jari Kykkanen early-and-often as the ‘Canes outshot the Rockets 13-6 in the opening period. Neither team was able to find the net in the first period which saw the best scoring-chance come for the Rockets with about five-minutes remaining when Ty Hurley ripped a shot off the crossbar. Kelowna had a pair of power play opportunities in the first period but could solve Harrison Meneghin as the game was scoreless after twenty minutes of play.
The Hurricanes outshot the Rockets again 12-10 in the second period, but it was Kelowna that opened the scoring at the 8:16 mark when Gabreil Szturc ripped home his 10th goal of the season from the high-slot to make it 1-0; Will Munro earned the only assist on the goal. Lethbridge pushed back in the second-half of the period as they generated a handful of great chances including a Tyson Zimmer look from the slot by Kykkanen stood tall turning aside all 25 Lethbridge shots after forty minutes as the Rockets held a 1-0 lead after two periods of play.
In the third period, the Hurricanes tied the game at the 5:05 mark when Logan Wormald tied the game on a penalty shot after being hauled down on a shorthanded breakaway. Wormald made a good move before beating Kykkanen through the legs for his fifth of the season to make it a 1-1 tie. Just under five-minutes later, the Rockets restored their lead as Tij Iginla scored his team-leading 18th goal of the season from the left circle beating Meneghin over the blocker to put Kelowna up 2-1. The Rockets added a power play goal just 3:56 later when Marcus Pacheco swatted home a rebound before an empty-net goal by Caden Price rounded out the scoring helping Kelowna to a 4-1 win.
The Hurricanes outshot the Rockets 35-27 in the game. Lethbridge was 0/4 on the power play while Kelowna went 1/6 on the man advantage.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Rockets – #22 Gabriel Stzurc (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Rockets – #30 Jari Kykkanen (34-saves)
3) Rockets – #12 Will Munro (2 assists)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended a three-game winning streak while the Rockets ended their nine-game losing streak with the victory. Lethbridge fell to 6-6-0-0 on the road with the defeat while their overall record slipped to 12-9-2-0 on the season. It was the Hurricanes 10th straight defeat in Kelowna dating back to January 20, 2012 as they have now gone 0-9-1-0 in their last 10 visits to Prospera Place.
The Hurricanes will continue their trip on Wednesday when they visit the Kamloops Blazers at 8:00pm at Sandman Centre before ending the road trip in Prince George against the Cougars on Friday at 8:00pm MT. Lethbridge will return to the ENMAX Centre on Wednesday, November 29th when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen 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.
