Hurricanes Earn Third Straight Victory, Defeat Broncos 6-3
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened the 2024 portion of their schedule on Wednesday with come-from-behind 6-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos at the ENMAX Centre.
It was the first of a season-long four-game homestand for the Hurricanes who entered with a 9-6-3-0 record at home. Swift Current – who inserted newly signed European defenceman Jakub Dvorak – had a great start to the game outshooting the Hurricanes in the early going but Harrison Meneghin stood tall early. Lethbridge came on in the middle part of the period and had a great scoring chance when Kooper Gizowski redirected a Noah Chadwick point-shot off the goal post as the game remained scoreless. Brayden Edwards came close to opening the scoring on a giveaway by Broncos’ defenceman Sam Ward which turned into a point-blank slot chance for the ‘Canes second leading scorer but goaltender Matthew Kieper made a good save to keep it scoreless. Meneghin was tasked with a tough stop at the end of the period when Brady Birnie had a look with under five-minutes left but made a great stop with the left leg. Shot favoured Swift Current 13-10 in the opening period as the game remained scoreless.
The Hurricanes had a great second period as they outshot the Broncos 14-5 in the middle frame but trailed after two periods. Lethbridge had a great chance in the opening minutes of the period as a puck skipped back door to Kale Tipler who ripped a shot off the goal post as he was denied his first goal in the WHL. Swift Current opened the scoring at the 6:38 mark when Clarke Caswell stepped off the wall and beat Meneghin over the blocker to make it 1-0. Just under four-minute later, the ‘Canes tied the game when Tyson Zimmer buried his 11th of the season – and second goal in his last two games – to tie the game at 1-1; Trae Wilke and Carter Dereniwsky earned the assists on the goal as Dereniwsky ended a 16-game point drought. The Broncos pulled back in front on a two-on-one when Connor Gabriel tapped home a goalmouth rebound to give Swift Current a 2-1 lead after forty minutes of play.
Lethbridge exploded for a season-high five goals in the third period scoring three times on the power play. The Hurricanes tied the game with a power play goal at the 4:53 mark when Brayden Edwards redirected a Logan Wormald point-pass to tie the game at 2-2; Noah Chadwick earned the second assist on the goal. Lethbridge pulled ahead on another power play when Logan Wormald ripped home a one-timer at the 9:44 mark from Chadwick and Edwards giving the Hurricanes their first lead of the game. The ’Canes struck again on the man advantage with 6:25 remaining in the game as Zimmer potted his second of the night on a rebound in front making it 4-2 – Chadwick and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. Just over three-minutes later, Elias Knoester – who returned to the lineup after missing the last four games – snuck a shot through the legs of Kieper to give the ‘Canes a 5-2 advantage – Logan McCutcheon and Wilke were credited with the helpers. Swift Current pulled the goaltender with over three-minutes remaining in the game and struck with the extra attacker as Connor Hvidston beat Meneghin over the blocker with 2:18 remaining in the game closing the ‘Canes lead to 5-3. The Broncos pulled Kieper again, but the Hurricanes rounded out the scoring as Edwards found the empty-net completing a three-point effort in his 150th WHL game as the Hurricanes earned a 6-3 victory over the Broncos.
The Hurricanes outshot the Broncos 15-10 in the third period, and helped the edge 39-28 in the contest. Lethbridge went 3/5 on the power play while Swift Current went 0/1 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #21 Tyson Zimmer (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #8 Noah Chadwick (4 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #19 Brayden Edwards (2 goals, 1 assist)
The victory for the Hurricanes was their third straight win as they improved to 3-0-1-0 since returning from the Christmas Break collecting seven out of a possible eight points. Lethbridge improved to 10-6-3-0 at home this season while their overall record lifted to 18-15-3-0 on the season. The three-game winning streak matches the ‘Canes season-long winning streak while they improved to 4-1-1-0 against the Broncos this season.
The ‘Canes continue their four-game homestand on Friday when they welcome the Tri-City Americans to the ENMAX Centre on Wild 95.5 Country Night before welcoming the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday, January 9th at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
