Hurricanes End Home Schedule with 2-1 Loss to Oil Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their eighth-straight loss on Friday falling 2-1 to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
It marked the final home game of the regular season for the Hurricanes who entered with a 2-11-3-0 record in their previous 16 games. Lethbridge had a strong start to the game as they opened the scoring just 4:13 into the contest when Easton Daneault buried his 13th goal of the season to make it a 1-0 game; Matteo Fabrizi and Kade Duell earned the assists on the goal as the ‘Canes struck first for the third straight game. Edmonton tied the game at the 12:52 mark when Aaron Obobaifo ripped home his 17th goal of the year beating Koen Cleaver with a wrist shot over the blocker from the high-slot to make it 1-1; Kanjyu Gojsic and Austin Zemlak were credited with the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes were outshot 16-9 in the first period by the Oil Kings.
Lethbridge had a strong second period as they pepped Edmonton’s netminder Parker Snell early in the period. The Hurricanes came close to taking the lead on a glorious opportunity for Lukas Lima who wired a shot just wide of the net just over four-minutes into the period. The Oil Kings took the lead with 6:04 remaining in the second period when Lukas Sawchyn buried a rebound for his 26th goal and team-leading 84th point to give Edmonton a 2-1 advantage; Kayden Stroeder and Adam Jecho picked up the helpers on the tiebreaking tally. The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 11-9 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes had a trio of power play opportunities including a four-minute double-minor man advantage after Daneault was clipped with a high-stick. The ‘Canes pressed for the equalizer with the extra man but couldn’t solve Snell as Edmonton managed to kill off the extended power play. The Oil Kings had a power play late in the game and peppered Cleaver with a barrage of chances, but the ‘Canes netminder made a quartet of wonderful saves to keep it a one-goal game. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker with less than 30-seconds left in the game and came close to finding a tie, but Snell turned aside a Duell shot in the final seconds to preserve the 2-1 Oil Kings victory. Lethbridge was outshot 7-6 in the third period.
The Hurricanes were outshot 32-26 in the game by the Oil Kings. Lethbridge went 0/5 on the power play while Edmonton was 0/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were the three overage players dressed in the game:
1) ‘Canes – #23 Matteo Fabrizi (1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #26 Andrew Petruk
3) Oil Kings – #55 Austin Zemlak (1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes ends their home schedule for the 2025-2026 season with a record of 11-22-0-1 on the year. Lethbridge’s record slipped to 17-46-3-1 on the season with the defeat as their losing streak extended to eight-straight games. The ‘Canes end the year with a 1-7-0-0 record against the Oil Kings.
Lethbridge will conclude the 2025-2026 season on Saturday as they travel to face the Calgary Hitmen at 6:00pm at Scotiabank Saddledome. The game can be watched on Victory+ or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
