Hurricanes Earn Come-From-Behind Win Over Rebels
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued their early season dominance at home on Saturday with a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The game marked the 50th anniversary of WHL hockey in Lethbridge and 50 years of the Lethbridge Sportsplex. Prior to the game, the team introduced members of the original 1974-75 Lethbridge Broncos and the 1987-88 Lethbridge Hurricanes, along with staff from both clubs. Once the game began, it was a spirited start for both the ‘Canes and Rebels as Lethbridge took an early penalty. Red Deer struck on the power play just 1:24 into the game as Ollie Josephson ripped home his fourth goal of the season to give the Rebels at 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes responded just over three-minutes later with a power play goal of their own as Brayden Edwards redirected a centering pass by Logan Wormald to tie the game 1-1; Noah Chadwick earned the second assist on the goal. The tie, however, only lasted four-minutes as the Rebels potted another power play goal when Hunter Mayo beat Brady Smith with a one-timer from the blueline to put Red Deer ahead 2-1 after twenty minutes of play. Shots were even 8-8 in the first period.
Red Deer outshot Lethbridge 11-10 in the second period, but it was the ‘Canes the tied the game early in the frame with another goal on the man advantage. Just 5:50 into the period, Leo Braillard deflected his team-leading fifth power play goal passed Chase Wutzke to tie the game 2-2; Chadwick and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge appeared to take their first lead at the midway point of the period when Landen Ward batted home a loose puck in front of the net, but after review, it was deemed no goal after the puck had been knocked down with a high stick. Shortly after, the ‘Canes had another opportunity with the extra man, but it was the Rebels that struck for a shorthanded goal by Jhett Larson at the 14:24 mark to put the Red Deer ahead 3-2 after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes were full value as the pressed with multiple chances to tie the game. Kash Andresen came close on two separate point-blank opportunities in front of the net but couldn’t find a way to bang home a loose puck. Lethbridge eventually tied the game for the third time with 5:11 remaining in regulation when Marques picked off a pass in the offensive zone and wired home his third goal of the season to make it a 3-3 game with an unassisted goal. The ‘Canes kept the foot on the gas and Andresen was able to tap home his third goal of the year finishing a perfect centering pass by Kooper Gizowski as Lethbridge took their first lead at the 17:18 mark; Logan McCutcheon earned the secondary helper on the go-ahead goal. Red Deer pulled the goaltender Wutzke for the extra attacker, but the ‘Canes rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal by Marques to seal a come-from-behind 5-3 win for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes outshot the Rebels 12-7 in the third period while holding the edge 30-26 in the game. Lethbridge went 2/4 on the power play while Red Deer was 2/5 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #14 Miguel Marques (2 goals, 1 assist)
2) Rebels – #9 Matthew Gard (1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #25 Kash Andresen (1 goal)
The win for the Hurricanes ended a two-game losing streak while it improved their home-ice record to 6-0-1-0 on the season and 16-4-5-0 in their last 25 home games dating back to last season. Lethbridge’s overall record lifted to 7-3-1-0 on the year while improving to 2-0-0-0 against Red Deer.
Lethbridge will continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday, October 30th with the B93 Halloween Howler against the Swift Current Broncos at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena before hosting the Calgary Hitmen on Friday, November 1st at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.