Hurricanes Edge Tigers 4-3 in Canadian Tire Toque & Teddy Toss
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their second-straight victory on Friday with a 4-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes had a great start to the Canadian Tire Toque and Teddy Toss in hopes of sending the bears to the ice early as they buzzed in the offensive zone in the first two minutes but couldn’t solve Tigers goaltender Jordan Switzer. Medicine Hat opened the scoring at the 3:09 as Oasiz Wiesblatt ripped a shot over the blocker of Jackson Unger to make it 1-0. Late in the period, Brayden Edwards had a great look to tie the game on a two-on-one shorthanded but Jordan Switzer made a great glove save to keep it 1-0. Shortly after the ‘Canes opportunity, the Tigers struck on the power play to double their lead when Hunter St. Martin slipped home his 20th goal of the season with just 21-seconds left in the period as Medicine Hat held a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes of play.
Lethbridge tied the game with a goal 3:23 into the second period when Leo Braillard buried the Teddy Bear Toss goal for his 11th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game; Brayden Yager and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes pulled even with a four-on-three power play goal at the 7:17 mark as Noah Chadwick rifled home his seventh goal of the year to even the game 2-2; Logan Wormald and Yager picked up the helpers on the equalizer. Just 36-seconds later, the ‘Canes continued to pour it on as Wormald tapped home a centering pass from Tristen Doyle on a two-on-one to five Lethbridge their first lead of the game.
In the third period, the Hurricanes added to their lead when Braillard tucked home a beautiful goal at the side of the net for his second of the night and the ‘Canes fourth straight goal to go up 4-2; Yager earned the lone assist on the goal. Lethbridge appeared to add another goal when Edwards redirected a Chadwick point shot on a power play, but the goal was disallowed after video review as the game stay a two-goal contest. Medicine Hat pulled the goaltender with over two-and-a-half minutes left in the game and they pulled to within a goal with 4.3-seconds left when Mathew Ward has a puck deflect off him and into the net to make it a 4-3 game, but that was as close as the Tigers would come in a come-back bid as the Hurricanes hung on to the one-goal victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 11-9 in the third period by the Tigers and 35-33 in the game. Both Lethbridge and Medicine Hat went 1/4 on the power play.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #28 Leo Braillard (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #29 Brayden Yager (3 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (1 goal, 1 assist)
The win for the Hurricanes was their second-straight victory as they improved to 10-2-1-0 on home ice at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. The ‘Canes overall record improved to 14-10-1-1 on the season. Lethbridge’s divisional record lifted to 5-4-0-0 this season against Central Division opponents while improving to 2-0-0-0 against Medicine Hat and 12-1-1-0 in their last 14 home games against the Tigers.
The Hurricanes, along with the help of the fans, collected 4,207 stuffed animals and 1,085 toques during the toss to help support local charities in Lethbridge including the Chinook Regional Hospital Pediatrics Ward, Blood Tribe Police, Lethbridge Family Services and more.
The Hurricanes will continue a four-game homestand on Wednesday when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena before hosting the Red Deer Rebels on Friday at 7:00pm. 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.
