Hurricanes Drop 5-2 Defeat to Oil Kings on Sunday
Edmonton, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their second-straight loss on Sunday with a 5-2 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Rogers Place.
The Hurricanes ended their road portion of their 2025 schedule as they faced the Oil Kings for the first of two-straight games against Edmonton. Lethbridge entered with a 1-5-0-0 record in their previous six games. The Oil Kings had a great first period as they peppered the Hurricanes on the shot department outshooting the ‘Canes 15-1 in the period. Despite the shot differential, it was Lethbridge that opened the scoring at the 13:52 mark when Jake Evans buried his first career WHL goal ripping home a shot on a two-on-one to make it 1-0; Luke Cozens earned the lone assist on the goal. Edmonton pulled even in the final minute of the period when Miroslav Holinka scored his 18th goal of the season with 18.5 seconds left in the period to tie the game 1-1; Gavin Hodnett picked up the only assist on the goal.
Edmonton continued their dominance in the shot department in the second period as they outshot Lethbridge 15-6 in the middle frame. The Oil Kings took their first lead at the 11:55 mark when Lukas Sawchyn scored on a two-on-one potting his 15th goal of the season in his 100th WHL game to make it 2-1 Edmonton; Hodnett was credited with the only assist on the goal. Just over under six-minutes later, the Oil Kings struck again when Holinka buried his second of the night – and team-leading 19th of the year – at the 17:29 mark; Hodnett and Sawchyn earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge cut the lead back to within a goal in the final minute of the frame when Easton Daneault redirected home his sixth of the season with 28-seconds left to make it a 3-2 contest; Nathan Maloney and Fraser Leonard picked up the helpers on the tally as the ‘Canes trailed by one goal after two periods.
In the third period, the Oil Kings started the period on a carry-over power play with Maloney in the box for roughing. Edmonton came close on the man advantage when Dylan Dean had a point-blank chance on the doorstep, but Leif Oaten made a remarkable right pad save while without his goal stick to keep it a one-goal game. At the midway point, Dean would make good solving Oaten when a redirected puck slipping through the ‘Canes goaltenders’ legs to make it a 4-2 game with 11:19 remaining in the game. Lethbridge had a power play when Holinka took a delay of game penalty, but despite a couple of close chances, the Hurricanes were unable to dig into the Edmonton lead. Immediately after the penalty expired, Holinka was sprung out of the penalty box and made no mistake ripping home his hat-trick goal to make it 5-2 Edmonton; Blade Fiddler earned the lone assist on the goal. Lethbridge ended the game with a power play but couldn’t add to the score as the Hurricanes fell 5-2 to the Oil Kings.
Lethbridge was outshot 16-8 in the third period and 46-15 in the game by Edmonton. The Hurricanes and Oil Kings both went 0/2 on the power play in the game.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Oil Kings – #92 Miroslav Holinka (3 goals)
2) Oil Kings – #17 Gavin Hodnett (3 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #31 Leif Oaten (41-saves)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their sixth-straight road defeat as they record slipped to 5-14-0-0 this year away from home. Lethbridge’s overall record fell to 11-24-0-1 on the year as they dropped to 2-4-0-0 on against the Oil Kings this season.
Lethbridge will round out the 2025 portion of their schedule when they welcome the Oil Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Tuesday at 7:00pm. 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.
