Hurricanes Eliminate Wheat Kings in Game 5 with 5-2 Victory
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned a 5-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena to book their ticket to the second-round of the WHL Playoffs.
Lethbridge looked to advance to the second-round of the WHL Playoffs for the first time since 2018 on Friday in Game 5 against Brandon. The ‘Canes had a great start to the game as Brayden Yager was sprung on an early breakaway but was interfered with resulting in a penalty shot; on the penalty shot, Yager was stopped by Ethan Eskit who made his second-straight start. Just over three-minutes later, Yager got the best of Eskit with a power play goal as the Winnipeg Jets prospects wired home his fourth of the playoffs to make it 1-0; Miguel Marques and Noah Chadwick picked up the assists on the goal. Brandon answered just 1:36 later to tie the game as a seeing-eye point shot by Quinn Mantei beat a screened Jackson Unger to make it a 1-1 game. The Hurricanes had a great chance to retake the lead as Jordan Gustafson took backhand shot on goal but hit the crossbar to keep the game tied 1-1. Shane Smith was assessed a five-minute major for a checking to the head penalty when he hit Caleb Hadland. On the ensuing power play, the Wheat Kings struck to take the lead when Joby Baumuller had a puck deflect off him and passed Unger to make it 2-1 Brandon; Jordan Gavin and Luke Shipley earned the assists on the goal. The Wheat Kings outshot the Hurricanes 12-10 in the first period.
Lethbridge came out flying to open the second period as they pepper Brandon in the middle frame. The Hurricanes pulled even with a goal at the 3:07 mark when Gustafson tapped home his second goal in as many games to make it a 2-2 game; Kooper Gizowski and Logan McCutcheon were credited with the assists on the tying goal. The ‘Canes continued to press in the second period with multiple glorious chances, but Eskit continue to play strong keeping the game tied. Lethbridge came close to pulling ahead on a power play opportunity when Brayden Edwards was set up back door and deflected a shot off the goal post before both Edwards and Logan Wormald couldn’t find a way to knock the puck across the line. Late in the period, Brandon was assessed back-to-back penalties to Hadland and Dominik Petr resulting in a five-on-three power play for the Hurricanes to start the third period as the game was tied 2-2 after two periods of play. The Hurricanes outshot the Wheat Kings 21-10 in the second period.
The ‘Canes didn’t take any time to pull in front when Chadwick rifled home his first ever post-season goal just 33-seconds into the third period while on the two-man advantage to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead; Wormald and Gustafson picked up the helpers on the goal. Just over two minutes later, the Hurricanes struck again when Yager fired a rink-wide pass to a pinching McCutcheon who scored his first playoff goal to double the Lethbridge lead to 4-2 just 2:51 into the period; Marques was credited with the second assist on the goal. Lethbridge continue to pour it on and came close to making it a 5-2 game when Luke Cozens set up Gizowski at the side of the net before the 19-year-old lifted a shot off the under-side of the cross bar. Brandon pulled the goaltender late in the game with hopes of chipping into the Lethbridge lead, but Edwards was able to seal the win with his second of the playoffs potting an empty-net goal to give the ‘Canes a 5-2 win. Lethbridge outshot Brandon 22-4 in the third period.
The Hurricanes set a season-high, regular season and playoffs combined, outshooting the Wheat Kings 53-26 in the game while outshooting them 43-14 in the final forty minutes. Lethbridge went 2/8 on the power play while Brandon was 1/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were the Wheat Kings overage players:
1) Wheat Kings – #91 Nolan Flamand
2) Wheat Kings – #72 Marcus Nguyen
3) Wheat Kings – #27 Luke Shipley
The win for the Hurricanes is their first playoff series win since 2018 when they eliminated the Wheat Kings in five games in the second-round of the WHL Playoffs. Lethbridge dispatches Brandon in five games again as they improve to 3-2 all-time against the Wheat Kings in the playoffs having won the last three meetings. The Hurricanes earned their 19th all-time series victory with the win.
The Hurricanes will face the Calgary Hitmen in the second-round of the WHL Playoffs marking the first time the two will meet since Round 1 of the 2019 WHL Playoffs. The full schedule will be announced at a later date.
