Hurricanes Earn First Win in Tri-City in Over 25 Years
Kennewick, WA – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their first victory in Tri-City against the Americans in over 25-years on Wednesday with a 3-2 overtime win at the Toyota Center.
Newcomer Anthony Wilson made his Hurricanes debut in the game after completing a four-game suspension after being acquired last week from the Regina Pats while Brayden Yager returned to the ‘Canes lineup. Lethbridge has a great start to the game as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 4:22 into the game when Logan Wormald matched career-high with his 22nd goal of the year; Leo Braillard and Tristen Doyle picked up the assists on the goal. Tri-City came close to tying the game with just over five-minutes remaining in the period when Brandon Whynott wired a shot that grazed the goal post behind Jackson Unger. The Hurricanes doubled their lead with just 1:29 remaining in the period when Wormald buried his second of the night to set a new career-high in goals with 23 and points with 45 to make it 2-0 after twenty minutes of play. Hurricanes were outshot 10-9 in the first period.
Tri-City cut the lead in half in the opening minute of the second period as Max Curran slapped a puck through the legs of Unger just 45-seconds into the frame to make it a 2-1 contest; Terrell Goldsmith and Jake Sloan earned the assists on the goal. The Americans had a pair of power play chances in the second period, but the ‘Canes penalty which has killed at an over 85-percent rate over their last 20-games, was able to kill both chances to keep the lead one. The Hurricanes pressed late to restore their two-goal lead and came close on a partial two-on-one when Yager slipped a pass across to Kooper Gizowski, but Lukas Matecha slip across to rob the 19-year-old as Lethbridge held a one-goal lead after two periods. Shots favoured Tri-City 15-12 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes had a great chance early to add to their lead with a five-on-three power play opportunity. Lethbridge peppered the Tri-City goaltender Matecha with the two-man advantage but couldn’t find an insurance goal. The Americans pulled even just shy of the midway point of the period when Gavin Garland roofed a puck after a turnover for his 20th goal of the season to make it 2-2 with 10:12 remaining in regulation. Both teams had chances to pull ahead in the final five minutes of the third, but neither team could find the go-ahead marker as the game went to overtime. The Hurricanes outshot the Americans 15-5 in the third period.
The teams traded chances in the overtime period. Tri-City nearly ended the game on a point-blank chance for Savin Virk who was denied by Unger who slid across to make a shoulder save. Lethbridge had a handful of great looks before they ended the game at the 4:39 mark when Wormald completed the hat-trick wiring home a wrist shot from the left circle to give the ‘Canes a 3-2 victory; Edwards and Chadwick picked up the assists on Wormald’s ninth game-winning goal of the season and fourth career overtime winner.
The Hurricanes outshot the Americans 41-31 in the contest. Lethbridge and Tri-City both went 0/3 on the power play.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (3 goals)
2) Americans – #30 Lukas Matecha (38-saves)
3) Americans – #66 Gavin Garland (1 goal)
The win for the Hurricanes was their first victory in Tri-City since December 11th, 1999 – a span of 9,167 days between victories. Lethbridge improved to 5-1-0-0 in their last six road games while their road record lifted to 9-11-0-1 this year. The ‘Canes overall record improved to 24-14-1-1 on the year as they earned their first win against the US Division this year.
The Hurricanes will continue a three-game US Division trip on Friday when they visit the Wenatchee Wild for the first time at 8:00pm at the Town Toyota Center. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday, January 22nd when they welcome the Regina Pats 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.