Hurricanes Fall 7-4 to Hitmen on Sunday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a three-in-three weekend against the Calgary Hitmen with a 7-4 loss on Sunday at the ENMAX Centre.
Calgary came out of the gate flying jumping out to an early 5-0 shot advantage. For the second straight night, the Hitmen opened the scoring as Adam Kydd potted a rebound beating Bryan Thomson at the 5:57 mark to make it 1-0. The Hurricanes answered with a five-on-three power play goal by Logan Barlage as he scored his third of the season to even the game 1-1; Alex Cotton and Dino Kambeitz earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge was outshot 14-9 in the first period.
The second period was all Hitmen as they outshot the Hurricanes 14-10 in the middle frame. Calgary was able to pull ahead as they scored three goals in a span of 3:05. Zac Funk gave the Hitmen a 2-1 lead as he scored his second of the season at 8:56 mark. Hitmen made it 3-1 when Cael Zimmerman ripped one off the wing before Kydd scored his second of the game just 25-seconds later as Calgary held a 4-1 lead after forty minutes of play.
Early in the third period the Hitmen added to their lead as Connor Gabruch ripped home his first of the season to make it a 5-1 game. The Hurricanes didn’t go away however as they answered back with a goal of their own just three minutes later as Jett Jones deflected a Joe Arntsen point shot to make it a 5-2 game. Zack Stringer then potted two goals in a 3:28 span, first five-on-five then with a four-on-three power play to pull Lethbridge to within a goal making it a 5-4 game. The ‘Canes pulled the goaltender looking to find the game-tying goal but Calgary potted not one, but two, empty-net goals making it a 7-4 final.
The Hurricanes outshot the Hitmen 17-12 in the third period, but Calgary held the edge 40-36 in the game. Lethbridge went 2/5 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game:
1) Hitmen – #23 Adam Kydd (2 goals)
2) Hitmen – #24 Zac Funk (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #27 Logan Barlage (1 goal, 1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes drops their record to 3-4-1-0 on the season as they go 1-1-1-0 over the three game set with the Hitmen. The ‘Canes now 2-2-0-0 at the ENMAX Centre this season.
The Hurricanes will begin a three-in-three weekend against the Medicine Hat Tigers next weekend with two games on the road and one at home. All three games can be streamed on WHL LIVE on the new CHL TV or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
