Hurricanes Fall 5-3 to Blades
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to action on Friday with a 5-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes opened a two-game weekend as Carsen Adair made his season debut after missing opening weekend due to injury. It didn’t take long for Adair to make his presence known as he earned the primary assist on the Hurricanes opening goal just 5:59 into the game as Kade Duell potted his first goal in the Western Hockey League beating Blades goaltender Ethan McCallum under the right arm to make it 1-0; Chase Petersen was credited with the second assist on the goal. Lethbridge doubled their lead just 1:31 later when Logan Wormald beat a screened netminder for his first goal as Captain; Matteo Fabrizi and Shane Smith picked up the helpers. The ‘Canes continued to poor it on as struck to make it a 3-0 advantage as Gavin Lesiuk wired home his first goal of the season as Hudson Kibblewhite earned as assist against his former team – Luke Cozens extended a point streak to three-straight games with the secondary assist. Saskatoon pulled McCallum after three goals on six shots as he was replaced by Evan Gardner. The Blades cut the lead to two with a power play goal by David Lewandowski at the 17:08 mark; Cooper Williams and Hunter Laing earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge was outshot 13-9 by Saskatoon in the first period but led 3-1 after twenty minutes of play.
Saskatoon opened the second period with a four-on-three power play but failed to capitalize with the extra man. The Blades carried the play in the middle frame as they pulled to within a goal when Laing buried a loose puck for his first of the season to make it a 3-2 Lethbridge lead; Lewandowski and Williams were credited with the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes had a power play of their own at the midway point of the period, but the Blades penalty kill didn’t allow Lethbridge any good scoring chances as it remained a one-goal contest. Saskatoon pulled even at the 15:43 mark when Kazden Mathies slipped one through the legs of Cleaver, who had lost his goal stick, to tie the game 3-3. The Blades doubled the Hurricanes in shots 16-8 in the second period as the game was tied after two periods.
In the third period, the Blades continued to press outshooting the Hurricanes 10-6 in the final frame. Saskatoon pulled ahead early in the period with a power play goal by Dominik Petr at the 4:30 mark to give the Blades their first lead; Tristen Doyle, who made his return to Lethbridge, and Tyler Parr picked up the helpers on the goal. The ‘Canes had another power play opportunity at the 11:30 mark when Martin lifted a puck over the glass, but Lethbridge was unable to set up on the man advantage. Late in the game, the Hurricanes pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker but the Blades sealed the win with an empty-net goal by Rowan Calvert with 9-seconds remaining in the game to give Saskatoon a 5-3 win.
The Hurricanes were outshot 39-23 in the contest by the Blades. Lethbridge went 0/4 on the power play while Saskatoon was 2/5 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Blades – #11 David Lewandowski (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Blades – #27 Hunter Laing (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #23 Matteo Fabrizi (1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their second home defeat of the season as their home-ice record slipped to 0-2-0-0 on the year. Lethbridge’s overall record fell to 1-2-0-0 on the season as they dropped to 22-14-3-2 in the last 41 games head-to-head against Saskatoon dating back to the 2014-2015 season.
Lethbridge will visit the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday at 7:00pm in their first of eight meetings on the season. The Hurricanes will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, October 3rd when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
