Hurricanes End Trip with 5-1 Win Over Pats
Regina, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened March with a 5-1 victory over the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre on Saturday.
Lethbridge ended their four-game East Division road trip with their penultimate road game of the season. Jakes Evan made his Western Hockey League debut in the contest – the former fourth-round draft pick from the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. The Hurricanes took an early penalty when Carsen Adair was assessed a cross-checking penalty. Lethbridge, who entered with the third-best penalty kill, was able to kill the early chance as the Pats directed two shots with the extra man. The ‘Canes had a power play opportunity of their own when Adair drew a tripping penalty in the offensive zone; Lethbridge came close to opening the scoring when Logan Wormald wired a shot, but it hit the crossbar behind Ewan Huet. Lethbridge eventually struck first on a two-on-one when Chase Petersen buried his third goal of the year – and second in four games – on a give-and-go with Logan McCutcheon to make it 1-0 for the Hurricanes at the 10:42 mark. The ‘Canes had a four-minute man advantage late in the period when Tristen Doyle was cut open on a high-stick; the best chance on the power play came for the Pats when John Babcock ripped a shot off the goal post while shorthanded as the Hurricanes failed to score as they held a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes of play. Shots in the first period favoured Lethbridge 11-4.
The Hurricanes doubled their lead early in the second period when Leo Braillard wired home his 24th goal of the season snapping a shot by his countryman Ewan Huet to make it a 2-0 Lethbridge lead; Shane Smith and Brayden Yager were credited with the assists on the goal as Braillard reached the 100-point plateau in his CHL career. The Pats had the lone power play of the period when Kash Andresen was assessed a tripping penalty, but he ‘Canes were able kill the advantage keeping it a 2-0 lead. Regina cut the lead in half at the 15:07 mark when Braxton Whitehead poked a puck through the arm of Koen Cleaver – who made his 20th start of the season – to make it a one-goal game with an unassisted goal. Lethbridge looked to restore their two-goal advantage with a great shift by the Logan Wormald, Brayden Edwards and Luke Cozens line and came close on a great chance for Edwards which just rolled by the goal as the ‘Canes held a 2-1 lead after forty minutes of play. The Hurricanes outshot the Pats 11-10 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes added to their lead with just their third five-on-three power play goal of the season at the 4:47 mark when Doyle ripped home his fifth goal of the year from the right circle to make it 3-1 Lethbridge; McCutcheon and Smith picked up the helpers on the goal. Less than a minute later, the ‘Canes struck on the ensuing five-on-four power play as Edwards buried his 27th goal of the year to make it a 4-1 game; Braillard and Wormald were credited with the assists on the goal. Lethbridge rounded out the scoring with a goal by Noah Chadwick with 8:17 remaining in the game as he matched his career-high with his 12th of the year as the ‘Canes earned the 5-1 victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Pats 12-4 in the third and 34-18 in the game. Lethbridge went 2/6 on the power play while Regina was 0/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #2 Logan McCutcheon (2 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #10 Shane Smith (2 assists)
3) Pats – #52 Braxton Whitehead (1 goal)
The win for the Hurricanes ends their four-game road trip with a record of 3-0-0-1 collecting seven out of a possible eight points and extending their point streak to five-straight games. Lethbridge’s road record improved to 17-13-1-2 this year while lifting to 14-3-1-1 in their last 19 away from home. The ‘Canes overall record improved to 38-19-2-2 on the season as they end the regular season with a perfect 4-0-0-0 record against the Pats.
Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday, March 5th when they welcome the Kelowna Rockets at 7:00pm in the first of a six-game homestand. 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.
