Hurricanes Force Overtime, But Fall to Hitmen 3-2
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a three-in-three weekend on Sunday with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The game marked the final meeting of the regular season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen. Calgary – who entered five points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference – had a great start to the game as they opened the scoring just six-seconds into the contest when Maxim Muranov intercepted a pass before ripping it by Harrison Meneghin to give the Hitmen an early lead. Calgary doubled their lead with a power play goal at the 7:14 mark when Carson Wetsch buried a rebound for his 23rd goal of the season to make it 2-0; Chase Valliant and Reese Hamilton picked up the assists on the goal. Lethbridge pushed back in the second half of the period and almost cut the Calgary lead to one as Noah Chadwick ripped a shot off the crossbar behind Ethan Buenaventura as the Hitmen held their 2-0 lead after one period of play. The Hitmen outshot the Hurricanes 17-8 in the first period.
Lethbridge had a strong second period as they built some momentum with an early penalty kill when Hayden Pakkala was assessed a roughing penalty. Shortly after the penalty, the Hurricanes cut the Hitmen lead to one when Luke Cozens buried his first WHL goal at the 4:44 mark to make it a 2-1 game; Carter Dereniwsky and Brayden Edwards earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes continue to carry the play in the middle frame and had a pair of power play opportunities and came close to tying the game, but Ethan Buenaventura stood tall in the Calgary net to keep the Hitmen in front 2-1 after forty minutes of play. Lethbridge outshot Calgary 11-9 in the second period.
In the third period, the Hitmen dominated the period outshooting the Hurricanes 17-5 but Harrison Meneghin was superb stopping all 17 shots. Calgary had a plethora of great scoring chances in the period in hopes of adding to their lead. Connor Dale had a breakaway at the midway point of the period while Oliver Tulk had a point-blank chance in front of the net which Meneghin made saves on. Late in the game, the Hurricanes pulled the goaltender and for the second straight night they would find an equalizer with the extra attacker as Brayden Edwards buried his team-leading 30th goal of the season with 1:41 remaining in regulation tying the game at 2-2; Miguel Marques and Logan McCutcheon earned the assists as Edwards became the first Hurricane to reach the 30-goal mark since Justin Hall in 2021-2022. Neither team could find a late go-ahead goal as the game went to overtime.
In the extra session, Calgary had the better of the chances, including a Carter Yakemchuk net drive which was stopped by the ‘Canes netminder to keep the game alive. The Hitmen ended the game at the 3:12 mark when Reese Hamilton buried his sixth goal of the season – and second overtime winner against the Hurricanes – after Dale was robbed by Meneghin as Calgary earned the extra point and a 3-2 overtime victory. The Hitmen owned all five shots in the overtime period.
Calgary outshot Lethbridge 48-24 in the contest as it marked a season-high for shots allowed by the Hurricanes. The ‘Canes went 0/3 on the power play while the Hitmen went 1/5 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Hitmen – #9 Reese Hamilton (1 goal)
2) ‘Canes – #35 Harrison Meneghin (45-saves)
3) Hitmen – #15 Maxim Muranov (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended a five-game road winning streak, though extended their point streak to six straight games away from home. Lethbridge fell to 13-18-1-0 away from home while their record slipped to 8-3-1-0 in their last 12 games. The Hurricanes overall record fell to 31-28-6-0 on the season. The ‘Canes went 2-0-1-0 in their three-in-three weekend while they finished the regular season series with a 4-1-2-0 record against Calgary.
Lethbridge will return to the ENMAX Centre for their final home game of the regular season on Friday, March 22nd at 7:00pm as they open a final weekend home-and-home set against the Medicine Hat Tigers. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.