Hurricanes Edge Pats 3-2 for Third Straight Win
Regina, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued a three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory at the Brandt Centre over the Regina Pats.
Lethbridge made their first of two trips to Regina this season after going 1-1-0-0 in the Queen City last year. The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 4:13 into the game when Miguel Marques – who had a career-high nine game point streak end on Friday – ripped home his eighth goal of the season to give the ‘Canes the early advantage; Logan Wormald and Tristen Doyle picked up the assists on the goal. Lethbridge doubled their lead just over three-minutes later on a partial three-on-two when Brayden Edwards buried his 10th goal to make it 2-0; Marques and Wormald earned the helpers on the goal. The Hurricanes appeared to make it 3-0 on a scoring chance by Shane Smith, but the puck hit the underside of the crossbar. On the ensuing play, Regina pulled to within a goal with 1:48 remaining as Logan Peskett scored his fourth goal of the year to make it 2-1 after twenty minutes. Lethbridge outshot Regina 11-4 in the first period.
The Hurricanes had a trio of great chances early in the second period with a flurry of goal posts. Marques nearly added to the Lethbridge lead with a four-on-three power play but wired a wrist shot off the crossbar. Shortly after the Marques chance, Wormald cut to the middle and fired a shot off the post as he tried to catch Kelton Pyne going the wrong way. The ‘Canes kept the foot on the gas with the extra man and again came within an inch of adding to their lead as Edwards beat the goaltender, but not the post as the game stayed 2-1. The Pats had a late power play of their own in which they nearly tied the game with a goal-mouth scramble but Brady Smith – who made his third straight start – made a huge glove save to keep the ‘Canes ahead by one after two periods. Regina outshot Lethbridge 12-8 in the middle period.
In the third period, the Pats had a plethora of power play opportunities including a full two-minute five-on-three-man advantage. The ‘Canes were on their heels during the two-man advantage but was able to kill off the slew of chances. Lethbridge pulled ahead by two with a five-on-three power play goal of their own as Wormald one-timed a pass from Logan McCutcheon into the net with 3:41 remaining to make it a 3-1 game; Marques earned the second assist. Just 47-seconds later, the Pats pulled back to within one with a goal by Tanner Howe who snapped it by the blocker of Smith to make it 3-2 with under three-minutes left. Regina pulled the goaltender late in the game but Lethbridge was able to steer home the 3-2 victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Pats 6-5 in the third period and 25-21 in the contest. Lethbridge went 1/4 on the power play while Regina was 0/8 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #14 Miguel Marques (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Pats – #31 Kelton Pyne (22-saves)
3) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (1 goal, 2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes matched a season-long three-game winning streak as they earned their second-straight road victory. Lethbridge improved to 3-4-0-0 on the road this season while their overall record lifted to 11-5-1-0 on the season. The ‘Canes improved to 5-1-0-0 against the East Division.
The Hurricanes will conclude their three-game road trip on Monday afternoon at 1:30pm MT against the Brandon Wheat Kings for their Remembrance Day game at Westoba Place. Lethbridge will return home on Saturday, November 16th to welcome the Victoria Royals at 6:00pm. 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.
