Hurricanes Earn Second Straight Win, Double Tigers 4-2
Medicine Hat, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended 2023 with a 4-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers at Co-op Place on Saturday night.
It was the fourth meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and Tigers as Medicine Hat had posted a 2-1-0-0 record in the previous three against Lethbridge having won the last two games by a combined 13-4 score. The ‘Canes had a great start to the game firing everything at Tigers rookie goaltender Zach Zahara as they peppered him with five shots in the first three minutes. Lethbridge’s best chance came when Miguel Marques ripped a shot off the goal post to keep the game scoreless. Medicine Hat pushed after the first commercial break as they took over and outshot Lethbridge 14-8 in the first period. The Tigers opened the scoring at the 10:53 mark when Tyler MacKenzie jammed home a rebound past Harrison Meneghin to make it a 1-0 advantage; Andrew Basha earned the lone assist on the goal. Late in the period, Medicine Hat had another glorious opportunity on a rebound as Nate Corbet ripped a shot, but Meneghin shot out the right leg to keep it a 1-0 game after twenty minutes of play.
The Tigers continued to pepper Menghin in the ‘Canes crease in the middle frame as they outshot the Hurricanes 18-10. Medicine Hat had eight shots in the first four minutes of the period, but the ‘Canes number-one netminder was sharp. Lethbridge tied the game on a two-on-one at the 3:44 mark as Logan Wormald made a nice move at the Medicine Hat line to get around a defender before centering a pass to Marques who tapped home his team-leading 17th goal of the season to make it a 1-1 game; Noah Chadwick earned the secondary assist on the goal. The ‘Canes continued to get good scoring chances in the middle frame as Marques wired a rebound off the crossbar before Trae Wilke hit the post late in the frame as the game was tied 1-1 after two periods of play.
In the third period, the Hurricanes pulled ahead with a power play goal at the 5:29 mark when Tyson Zimmer banked a shot off Rhett Parsons and past Zahara to give the ‘Canes a 2-1 lead; Wormald and Marques earned the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes added to their lead just over four minutes later when Brayden Edwards fed a pass to Trae Wilke on a two-on-one and the sophomore forward lifted one by Zahara to make it a 3-1 game. Just 2:19 after the Hurricanes took a two-goal lead, the Tigers pulled back to within one as Brett Calhoon scored his second of the year finishing a centering feed from Basha to make it 3-2. Medicine Hat pulled the goaltender late and pressed for an equalizer, but the ‘Canes captain Joe Arntsen scored his sixth goal of the season into an empty-net with 1:20 remaining in regulation to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 lead as Lethbridge was able to hang onto the road victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 8-4 in the third period while Medicine Hat held the edge 36-26 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/1 on the power play while going 1/1 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #35 Harrison Meneghin (34-saves)
2) Tigers – #34 Andrew Basha (2 assists)
3) Tigers – #30 Zach Zahara (22-saves)
The win for the Hurricanes was their second-straight victory as they improved to 8-9-0-0 away from home ending a three-game road losing streak. It also marked the third straight game that the ‘Canes collected at least one point. Lethbridge’s overall record improved to 17-15-3-0 on the season. The Hurricanes end the calendar year of 2023 with a record of 33-28-6-2 in 69 regular season games.
The ‘Canes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Wednesday, January 3rd when they host the Swift Current Broncos at 7:00pm in the first of a four-game homestand. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
