Hurricanes Edge Royals 4-3 in Nailbiter in Victoria
Victoria, BC – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened the second week of their 13-day road trip on Tuesday with a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals at the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre.
The ‘Canes entered with a 4-3-0-0 record in their previous seven games but entered after a 6-2 loss in Kamloops on Saturday. Victoria entered on a four-game losing streak but jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Seth Fryer ended a 49-game goal drought with a point shot that found it’s way by Koen Cleaver to give the Royals an early advantage just 50-seconds into the game; Roan Woodward and Reggie Newman picked up the helpers on the goal. Lethbridge answered with a fourth-line goal when Lukas Lima slipped a pass over to Kade Duell who buried his third goal of the season at the 12:50 mark on a partial breakaway to tie the game 1-1; Grady Pichette picked up the second assist while Lima earned his first WHL point on the goal. Less than four minutes later, the fourth line struck again for the Hurricanes when Duell wired home his second of the period from a sharp angle beating Ethan Eskit short-side high over the glove to make it 2-1; Lima and Will Scott earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge outshot Victoria 11-9 in the opening period.
The two teams traded chances in the second period in what was a fast-paced middle frame that didn’t see a whistle in the first seven-and-a-half minutes. The Royals had a glorious chance to tie the game on a partial two-on-nothing when Newman slipped a pass across to Woodward who was robbed by Cleaver who slid from his left to right to make a remarkable blocker save to keep the ‘Canes in front 2-1. Late in the period, the Hurricanes struck for two goals in a span of 29-seconds to open up a three-goal lead. Lethbridge made it a 3-1 lead when Luke Cozens potted his team-leading 14th goal of the season as he beat Eskit with a long-range shot past the blocker at the 16:57 mark; Carsen Adair and Tomas Malinek picked up the helpers on the goal. The ‘Canes added another at the 17:26 mark when Hudson Kibblewhite buried a goal-mouth scramble tapping home his eighth goal of the year to make it a 4-1 game; Scott and Owen Berge earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes outshot the Royals 9-6 in the middle frame while holding the shot advantage 20-15 after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Royals came out firing outshooting the Hurricanes 17-3 in the final twenty minutes. Victoria cut the Lethbridge lead to two-goals just 14-seconds into the period when Newman redirected a point shot by Cleaver to make it a 4-2 contest; Odin Vauhkonen and Hayden Moore were credited with the assists on the goal. The Royals kept pressing, aided by a quartet of power plays in the frame, and pulled to within a goal when Woodward buried a power play goal at the 11:50 mark cutting the score to 4-3; Moore and Timofei Runtso picked up the helpers on the goal. Victoria kept pouring it on late with a four-minute man advantage while also pulling the goaltender, but Cleaver stood tall in the Hurricanes crease steering the game home for his third straight victory as the ‘Canes hung on to the 4-3 win.
The Hurricanes were outshot 32-23 in the game by the Royals. Lethbridge went 0/2 on the power play while Victoria was 1/6 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Royals – #93 Road Woodward (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #9 Kade Duell (2 goals)
3) Royals – #25 Reggie Newman (1 goal, 1 assist)
The win for the Hurricanes was their third win of their trip as they improved to 3-2-0-0 through the first five games of their season-long seven-game road trip. Lethbridge improved 5-3-0-0 in their last eight games as their road record lifted to 5-8-0-0 this year while their overall record improved to 8-15-0-1 on the season. The ‘Canes continue their success against the Western Conference this year improving to 4-2-0-1 this year.
The Hurricanes will continue their trip on Wednesday when they visit the Vancouver Giants at 8:00pm MT at the Langley Events Centre before ending their seven-game road trip on Friday in Prince George against the Cougars. Lethbridge returns to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, November 29th when they welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:00pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
