Hurricanes Edge Rebels for 33rd Victory of the Season
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to the win column on Wednesday night as they earned a 3-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes opened a two-game homestand on Wednesday in the second of a back-to-back as they entered with an 8-4-0-1 record in the back-half of a back-to-back. Brayden Yager appeared in his 250th WHL game and was honoured prior to the game. Lethbridge had a good start to the game jumping out to an early 1-0 lead with a power play goal just 5:40 into the game when Kash Andresen banged home a loose puck for his sixth of the season to end a 15-game goal drought; Shane Smith and Kooper Gizowski picked up the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes continued to press in the first period as they came close again when Brayden Edwards was stopped on the doorstep by Peyton Shore to keep it a 1-0 game after twenty minutes of play. Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 13-8 in the first period.
Red Deer had a good start to the second period as they kept Lethbridge hemmed for the first six minutes but couldn’t solve Koen Cleaver who made his 18th start of the season. Cleaver made a pair of good saves on Ollie Josephson and Matthew Gard who couldn’t tie the game. The Hurricanes added to their lead at the 11:33 mark when Caden Price buried his first goal as a Hurricane to make it 2-0; Yager and Leo Braillard earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge struck again late in the frame when Yager scored his 22nd goal on a power play to make it 3-0; Edwards and Noah Chadwick were credited with the helpers as the Hurricanes held a three-goal lead after forty minutes of play. Red Deer held the edge in shots 12-9 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes had an early power play when Parker MacDougall was assessed a tripping penalty. The ‘Canes came close to adding to their lead, but Shore was strong in the Rebels crease to keep it 3-0. Red Deer pulled to within a goal snapping the shutout bid for Cleaver at the 6:29 mark when Gard scored his team-leading 12th goal of the year to make it a 3-1 game while snapping a shutout streak of 134:26 dating back to January 24th. The Rebels pulled the goaltender late in the game with a power play for a six-on-four, but failed to score as the Hurricanes hung on to a 3-1 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 31-28 in the game by the Rebels. Lethbridge went 2/4 on the power play while going 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #29 Brayden Yager (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #30 Koen Cleaver (30-saves)
3) Rebels – #9 Matthew Gard (1 goal)
The win for the Hurricanes improved their home record to 19-5-1-0 on the season the end the regular season with a 7-1-0-0 record against the Rebels. Lethbridge’s record lifted to 14-2-1-0 in their last 17 games as their overall record improved to 33-16-2-1 on the season, matching their win total from the 2023-2024 campaign. The ‘Canes are now 21-6-1-0 since the start of December.
The Hurricanes will welcome the Regina Pats on Friday at 7:00pm in the final of a two-game homestand at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. 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.
