Hurricanes Edge Hitmen for Eighth Straight Road Victory
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their eighth-straight road victory on Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win at Scotiabank Saddledome over the Calgary Hitmen.
It was the penultimate trip to Calgary for Lethbridge in the regular season. The Hitmen, who entered on a six-game winning streak, jumped out to an early lead when Carson Wetsch slipped home his 24th goal of the year just 1:04 into the game to make it 1-0 on an odd-man rush. The Hurricanes answered just 38-seconds later when Luke Cozens redirected a Caden Price point shot over the shoulder of Daniel Hauser to make it 1-1; Tristen Doyle earned the second assist on the goal that ended a 30-game scoring drought for Cozens. Lethbridge pulled ahead just 40-seconds after the Cozens goal when Brayden Yager scored his first of three goals in the period to make it a 2-1 ‘Canes lead; Price and Leo Braillard picked up the assists on the goal. At the 9:44 mark, Yager struck again on a power play wiring home his second goal of the game ripping a shot over the glove of Hauser to give the ‘Canes a 3-1 lead while reaching the 300-point mark in his WHL career; Noah Chadwick and Logan Wormald were credited with the helpers. Before the period was out, Yager completed his fourth career hat-trick hammering home his 18th goal of the season with 34-seconds left in the frame to give the Hurricanes a 4-1 lead after twenty minutes of play. The four goals in the first period marked a season-high for goals in the opening frame. The Hurricanes outshot the Hitmen 9-7 in the first period.
The Hitmen started the second period as they replaced Hauser with goaltender Anders Miller. The rookie goaltender was terrific in the period and was tested early with a glorious back door chance by Brayden Edwards who was set up on a two-on-one, but Miller stretched across to make a great pad save. Miller made another fantastic save on a shorthanded chance by Yager who went coast-to-coast, but was denied by the Calgary goaltender to keep it a three-goal game. The Hitmen cut the Hurricane lead in half at the 5:22 mark when Lethbridge product Rylan Ng snapped home his fourth goal of the season beating Jackson Unger low glove side to make it a 4-2 game. Calgary struck again just over four-minutes later when Oliver Tulk tipped home a pass from Ben Kindel on a power play for his 28th goal to make it a 4-3 game; Tulk extended a point-streak to eight-straight games with the goal. Calgary peppered Lethbridge 17-9 on the shot clock in the second period, but the Hurricanes held a 4-3 lead after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes and Hitmen traded early chances, but neither team could strike as both Miller and Unger were sharp to open the period. Lethbridge entered with a perfect 17-0-0-0 record on the season when leading after forty minutes, and the ‘Canes kept Calgary at bay with strong defence in the first half of the period. The Hitmen had a late power play opportunity when Yager was assessed a tripping penalty. Calgary generated two great scoring chances from Sawyer Mynio and Ben Kindel, but both hit the outside of the goal as Lethbridge managed to kill the penalty. Late in the game, Calgary called their timeout and pulled the goaltender but couldn’t find an equalizer as the Hurricanes hung on to a 4-3 victory. Shots were even 6-6 in the third period.
Lethbridge was outshot 30-24 by Calgary in the contest. The Hurricanes went 1/2 on the power play while the Hitmen were 1/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #29 Brayden Yager (3 goals)
2) Hitmen – #37 Oliver Tulk (1 goal)
3) ‘Canes – #35 Jackson Unger (27-saves)
The win for the Hurricanes was their eighth-straight road victory improving their road record to 8-1-0-0 in their last nine games and 13-11-0-1 on the season. Lethbridge improved to 30-16-1-1 on the season marking the ninth-straight season the ‘Canes have reached the 30-win plateau. The Hurricanes improved to 1-1-0-0 in the month of February and 2-4-0-0 against the Hitmen this year while improving to 5-1-0-0 on Sunday this season.
Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, February 7th when they welcome the Prince Albert Raiders for Wall of Honour Night. 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.