Hurricanes Earn 2-1 Victory over Raiders
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a four-game homestand on Wednesday with 2-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders at the ENMAX Centre.
It was a fast-paced first period that didn’t see a whistle for the first four-and-a-half minutes. The Hurricanes opened the scoring on a power play at the 6:09 mark when Tyson Laventure batted home a rebound out of mid-air to make it 1-0; Logan Wormald and Jett Jones picked up the assists on the goal which extended point streak to four and six games respectively. The ‘Canes had another chance on the man advantage, but Raider goaltender Tikhon Chaika made a handful of good saves to keep it 1-0 after twenty minutes of play. Lethbridge outshot Prince Albert 19-6 in the first period.
The two teams continued to trade chances in the second period with the ‘Canes outshooting the Raiders 9-5 in the middle frame. Lethbridge had a great opportunity midway through the frame when Tyson Zimmer was robbed point blank by Chaika who was able to stretch his left leg out to stop the ‘Canes forward. Neither team found the net in the second as the Hurricanes remained ahead 1-0 after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, Lethbridge doubled their lead when Joe Arntsen lead into a slapshot from the top of the left circle and picked the high-glove corner beating Chaika to make it 2-0 ‘Canes just 6:12 into the period; Wormald and Cole Shepard earned the assists on the goal. Prince Albert had a surge midway though the frame and broke Harrison Meneghin’s shutout bid with 3:03 left in the game when Carson Latimer redirected an Eric Johnston point shot passed the ‘Canes keeper to make it 2-1. The Raiders pulled the goaltender but the Hurricanes were able to steer home yet another one-goal victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 11-9 in the third period, but held the edge in shots 37-22 in the game as it was the fourth straight game the ‘Canes outshot the opposition. Lethbridge was 1/5 on the power play while the Raiders were 0/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (2 assists)
2) Raiders – #1 Tikhon Chaika (35-saves)
3) ‘Canes – #35 Harrison Meneghin (21-saves)
The victory for the Hurricanes extended their point streak to five straight games improving to 4-0-0-1 in that stretch. The ‘Canes are now 9-8-0-1 on the season and are 5-3-0-1 at the ENMAX Centre this season. It was the 10th time in the last 11 games the ‘Canes have skated in a one-goal margin.
The Hurricanes will continue their four-game homestand on Saturday when they welcome the Swift Current Broncos to the ENMAX Centre at 7:00pm. Individual game tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) and online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
