Hurricanes End Home Schedule with 4-2 Victory Over Oil Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes played their final home game of the regular season on Friday as they earned a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The ‘Canes celebrated World Down Syndrome Day and the Hurricanes Game Day Assistant Ryan Roznowsky prior to the game with a special pre-game ceremonial puck drop. Lethbridge came out firing in the first period and came close to opening the scoring with a power play chance when Brayden Edwards ripped a shot off the crossbar on the man advantage. Edwards made good on a scoring chance at the 11:19 mark as he stuffed home his 30th goal of the season to make it a 1-0 Lethbridge lead as he became the first ‘Cane to score 30-or-more games in back-to-back seasons since Dylan Cozens in 2018-19 and 2019-20; Vojtech Port and Logan Wormald picked up the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes scored again at the 14:14 mark when Edwards ripped home his second of the season to match a career-high with his 31st goal to make it 2-0; Wormald and Jordan Gustafson earned the assists on the goal as Wormald reached the 70-point mark for the first time in his career. Lethbridge outshot Edmonton 14-5 in the first period.
Edmonton started the second period with a bang as they turned up the physicality and cut the lead in half just after the five-minute mark when Josh Mori went coast-to-coast before ripping home his fourth goal to make it a 2-1 hockey game; Blake Fiddler and goaltender Ethan Simcoe were credited with the assists on the goal. Just 40-seconds later, the Oil Kings tied the game when Niko Tsakumis redirected a pass off his skate and passed Jackson Unger for his first goal of the year and first with Edmonton to make it a 2-2 game; Parker Alcos and Lukas Sawchyn picked up the helpers on the goal that tied the game. Lethbridge answered with a pair of goals in a span of 38-seconds. The ‘Canes pulled back in front when Kash Andresen finished on a two-on-nothing to make it a 3-2 Lethbridge lead; Gustafson and Noah Chadwick picked up the assists on the goal as Chadwick reached the 100-career assist mark. The ‘Canes doubled their lead again just 38-seconds later when Leo Braillard roofed home his 26th goal of the season on a three-way passing play to make it 4-2; Miguel Marques and Brayden Yager were credited with the assists on the goal. Edmonton outshot Lethbridge 8-4 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Oil Kings carried the play as they outshot the Hurricanes 12-2. Edmonton flurried with a bunch of chances and came close when they hit a goal post as the game stayed a 4-2 lead for Lethbridge. The ‘Canes were kept on their heels late in the period with the Oil Kings buzzing hoping to dig into the Lethbridge lead. Edmonton, with the goaltender pulled and a power play, came close to cutting the lead to one, but Unger stood tall on a goal-mouth scramble to preserve the lead as the Hurricanes hung on to the 4-2 win despite being outshot 20-6 in the final two periods.
Lethbridge was outshot by Edmonton 25-20 in the game. The Hurricanes went 0/1 on the power play while the Oil Kings went 0/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were the Hurricanes three overagers:
1) ‘Canes – #2 Logan McCutcheon
2) ‘Canes – #19 Brayden Edwards (2 goals)
3) ‘Canes – #7 Jordan Gustafson (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes improved their overall record to 42-20-3-2 on the season as they end a six-game homestand with a 4-1-1-0 record. Lethbridge ends the regular season with a 25-7-2-0 record on home ice marking the sixth time in team history they ended the season with 25 home-ice wins and first time since 2016-2017 season.
The Hurricanes will end the regular season on Saturday when they visit the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm at Co-op Place. Lethbridge will open the first-round of WHL Playoffs on Friday, March 28th at 7:00pm with Game 1 and Saturday, March 29th at 6:00pm with Game 2 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.
