Hurricanes Drop Special Teams Battle in Red Deer
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued their 2024 ENMAX Pre-Season on Saturday with a 5-2 loss in Red Deer against the Rebels at Peavey Mart Centrium.
The Hurricanes dressed a more veteran laden lineup compared to their first game as Brayden Edwards, Miguel Marques, Logan Wormald, Leo Braillard and Logan McCutcheon all dressed while Brady Smith made the start. Red Deer opened the scoring early in the game as Beckett Hamilton was credited with a power play goal at the 7:29 with Luke Cozens in the box to make it 1-0 Rebels. Lethbridge answered with a power play goal of their own on their second opportunity with the man advantage when Braillard ripped home his first goal of the pre-season at the 15:32 mark to tie the game 1-1; Marques and Tristen Doyle earned the assists on the goal. The tie was short-lived, however, as Samuel Drancak put the Rebels back in front with a breakaway goal just 26-seconds after the Braillard goal. Both the Hurricanes and Rebels went 1/2 on the man advantage in the opening period while Red Deer outshot Lethbridge 11-6 in the first frame and held the 2-1 lead.
Lethbridge had a pair of early power play opportunities to open the second period, but despite good looks, including a chance for Doyle down the middle couldn’t find an equalizer to tie the game. Red Deer took a two-goal lead with a power play strike as Hamilton snapped home his second of the night on a back-door play to make it 3-1; Carson Birnie and Jhett Larson earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes replaced Smith at the midway point of the period as Koen Cleaver entered the game; Smith stopped 13 of 16 shots he faced. Lethbridge cut the lead in half with 6:56 remaining in the period when Chase Petersen found the net for his second of the pre-season on a give-and-go with Gavin Lesiuk; Reid Soper was credited with the second assist as the ‘Canes trailed 3-2 after forty minutes of play. The Hurricanes doubled the Rebels in shots 14-7 in the middle frame and led 20-18 after two periods.
In the third period, the power plays continued, and the Rebels added to their lead just 4:03 into the frame when Drancak snuck one through the legs of Cleaver for the Rebels third man advantage goal of the night to put Red Deer ahead 4-2; Birnie was credited with the lone assist on the tally. Just three-and-a-half minutes later, the Rebels struck again on the power play when Larson ripped a shot home for his first goal of the pre-season making it 5-2; Hamilton and Quentin Bourne picked up the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes had a power play opportunity midway through the period but were unable to find the net as Red Deer skated to the 5-2 victory.
Lethbridge was outshot 16-4 in the third period as Red Deer held the edge 34-24 in the game. The ‘Canes went 1/5 with the man advantage while the Rebels were 4/8 on the power play.
The loss for the Hurricanes dropped their pre-season record to 1-1-0-0 at the midway point of the exhibition season. Lethbridge is 1-0-0-0 at home and 0-1-0-0 on the road in the pre-season. The ‘Canes will play their third of four games in the pre-season on Friday, September 13th when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen at 7:00pm to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Tickets for the game can be purchased for $10.00 online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca; proceeds benefitting the Lethbridge Minor Hockey Association. Parking will be complimentary for the home pre-season games, courtesy of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Fans are also encouraged to bring a pair of new socks to the Hurricanes home pre-season game in support of Onside Restoration’s Socktember, with all donations benefiting local charities, including the YWCA, Grant’s Closet and Lethbridge Family Services.
Season Tickets for the 2024-2025 Hurricanes regular season are still available, including the new premium season ticket. Season Tickets can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
