Hurricanes Drop 4-3 Decision to Warriors
Moose Jaw, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes dropped a 4-3 defeat on Friday to the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
It was the first of a two-game Saskatchewan-road trip for the Hurricanes who continued a road-heavy start to the season with seven of their first ten games away from home. The ‘Canes had a great chance on the first shift of the game as Logan McCutcheon was set up back-door by Carter Dereniwsky, but Warriors goaltender Jackson Unger made a great save to keep the game scoreless early. Lethbridge struck first in the game at the 8:33 mark as Miguel Marques ripped home his third goal of the season on a power play to make it 1-0 for the Hurricanes; Brayden Edwards and Logan Wormald earned the assists on the goal. Moose Jaw answered to tie the game just over four-minutes later as Martin Rysavy buried his second goal of the year at 12:52 to make it a 1-1 game. Shots were tied 11-11 in the first period as the game was tied after twenty minutes.
Moose Jaw turned up the heat in the early part of the second period as they went on to outshoot Lethbridge 12-10 in the middle frame. The Warriors had a great opportunity to take the lead as defenceman Brady Ness stickhandled to the front of the net and had a good shot, but Harrison Meneghin made a big blocker save to keep it tied. The ‘Canes and Warriors both had power play chances in the period, but neither could find the goal as the game remained tied 1-1 after two periods of play.
In the third period, Moose Jaw pulled ahead just 59-seconds into the frame as Jagger Firkus beat a screened Meneghin for his fifth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 Warriors lead. Just over four-minutes later, the Warriors struck again as Brayden Yager buried a one-timer from Rysavy to make it 3-1 before a four-on-one goal by Ethan Semeniuk – his first as a Warrior – to give Moose a 4-1 advantage. The Hurricanes answered back when Trae Wilke buried a rebound for his second goal of the season with 7:56 remaining in the period to make it 4-2; Dustin Renas and Noah Chadwick picked up the assists on the goal. Lethbridge was awarded a late power play in the game and pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker and the ‘Canes struck to make it a one-goal game as Chadwick ripped home his second goal of the year with just 25-seconds remaining; Logan McCutcheon and Marques were credited with the helpers. The Hurricanes pulled the goaltender again but ran out of time as Moose Jaw hung on for the 4-3 victory.
Final shots favoured the Warriors 31-30 in the game. Lethbridge went 2/3 on the power play in the contest while the Warriors were 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Warriors – #19 Martin Rysavy (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Warriors – #5 Denton Mateychuk (2 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #14 Miguel Marques (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes drops their road record to 3-3-0-0 on the season while their overall record slips to 5-3-1-0. Lethbridge is now 1-1-0-0 against Moose Jaw this season as the Warriors leapfrog the Hurricanes for top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hurricanes will end their two-game Saskatchewan trip on Saturday when they visit the Regina Pats at 7:00pm at the Brandt Centre. Lethbridge will return to the ENMAX Centre to face the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday, October 18th 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.
