Hurricanes Earn First Victory of Season, Down Raiders 3-1
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their first victory of the season on Friday with a 3-1 win over the defending Eastern Conference Champion Prince Albert Raiders at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The ‘Canes continued a three-game homestand with the first of a two-game home weekend on Friday as they debuted their new 40th Anniversary Jerseys. Lethbridge and Prince Albert met for the first of four matchups on the season and the two teams traded early chances in the opening frame. The Hurricanes had an early power play opportunity when Kyle Obobaifo was assessed a cross-checking penalty. On the man advantage, the ‘Canes had a pair of good looks, but Steele Bass stood tall in the Raiders net to keep it scoreless. Prince Albert came close to opening the scoring when Jordan Murray let a point-shot fly from the left point, but the puck hit the goal post and stayed out. Before the end of the frame, Leif Oaten – who made his third straight start – came up with a beautiful save on a two-on-one as he slid across to rob Dallas Stars prospect Brandon Gorzynski to keep it scoreless after one period. Shots favoured the Raiders 8-3 in the first period.
Lethbridge started to find some momentum in the second period and pushed to create some offensive zone time. The ‘Canes had a good scoring chance at the midway of the period when Gavin Lesiuk was stopped on a two-on-one chance before he attempted to wrap the rebound home, but a Raider defender knocked the net ajar. At the 13:04 mark, the Hurricanes found the icebreaker with a power play goal by Logan Stuart who snapped home his second goal of the season from the front of the net to make it 1-0 as Lethbridge struck first for the first time this year; Easton Daneault and Dayne Beuker picked up the assists on the goal. Late in the period, Murray for the Raiders hit another goal post as a point shot from the blue line rattled off the crossbar to keep it 1-0 Lethbridge after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Hurricanes looked to add on their lead as they had an early chance when Carsen Adair was set up in the slot, but wired a wrist shot wide of the net. Lethbridge eventually added to their lead when Oliver Sichtar tapped home his first WHL goal at the 8:35 mark to double the ‘Canes lead to 2-0; Stuart earned the lone assist after intercepting a pass before tucking a wraparound off the Raiders before Sichtar potted the rebound. Prince Albert drew within a goal just under four-minutes later when Jonah Sivertson stuff home a wraparound on the backhand to end the Oaten shutout bid and cut the Hurricanes lead to 2-1. The Raiders had a late power play opportunity with just over three-minutes remaining in the game, but the ‘Canes earned a huge penalty kill before sealing the win with an empty-net goal by Beuker who scored his third goal of the season to give Lethbridge the 3-1 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 27-17 in the contest by the Raiders. Lethbridge went 1/3 on the power play while going 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #31 Leif Oaten (26-saves)
2) ‘Canes – #21 Logan Stuart (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) Raiders – #28 Jonah Sivertson (1 goal)
The win for the Hurricanes was their first victory of their 40th Anniversary season as they ended a three-game losing streak to open the year. Lethbridge’s record improved to 1-3-0-0 on the season as they earned their first win since February 27, 2026, to end a 12-game losing streak dating back to last year.
Lethbridge will end their three-game homestand on Saturday at 6:00pm as they welcome the Calgary at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
