Hurricanes Hold Off Rebels; Sweep Homestand
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a four-game homestand on Friday with a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge opened their first three-in-three weekend of the season and a stretch of nine straight games against Central Division opponents. Early in the game, the Hurricanes Hayden Pakkala was assessed a cross-checking penalty just 33-seconds into the game. While shorthanded, the ‘Canes opened the scoring with a beautiful goal by Brayden Edwards who wired home his 14th goal of the season for his first shorty of the season; Shane Smith and Jackson Unger earned the assists on the goal – for Unger, his first WHL point. Red Deer drew even at the 7:19 mark when former Hurricane Trae Wilke ripped a shot home for his fourth of the year right off a faceoff to tie the game 1-1; Cole Peardon was credited with the lone assist on the goal. The Hurricanes kept the Rebels pinned in their zone in the back-half of the period but couldn’t find a go-ahead goal as the period ended in a 1-1 tie. Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 11-9 in the first twenty minutes.
It was a stingy second period that resulted in his nine shots combined between the two teams with the Hurricanes holding the edge 6-3. Lethbridge had an early power play but couldn’t solve Chase Wutzke in the Red Deer net. The Hurricanes killed off a Rebels man advantage when Chase Petersen was assessed an interference penalty to keep the game tied. Late in the frame, Talon Brigley had a glorious opportunity to pull ahead when he had a puck come to him at the side of the net, but Jackson Unger shot up his left leg to make a terrific save as the game was tied after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Rebels opened with a carry-over power play from the second period and came close to pulling ahead when Beckett Hamilton ripped a shot off the goal post on the man advantage on the short side of Unger. The Hurricanes took the lead at the midway point of the period when Trae Johnson slipped a shot through the legs of Wutzke to make it a 2-1 game; Kash Andresen and affiliate Grady Pichette picked up the assists on the goal – for Pichette, his first WHL point. Just over two minutes later, the ‘Canes added a power play goal when Hayden Pakkala tipped a Smith wrist shot home for his sixth goal to make it a 3-1 game; Tristen Doyle earned the second helper. Red Deer pulled the goaltender with over two-minutes remaining in the game, but Lethbridge iced the contest with an empty-net goal by Logan Wormald who potted his team-leading 17th goal to make it a 4-1 final.
Shots in the third period favoured the Hurricanes 12-4 while Lethbridge outshot Red Deer 29-16 in the game. The ‘Canes went 1/3 on the power play while going 4/4 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #26 Trae Johnson (1 goal)
2) ‘Canes – #10 Shane Smith (2 assists)
3) Rebels – #33 Chase Wutzke (25-saves)
The win for the Hurricanes was their fourth straight victory as they sweep their four-game homestand. Lethbridge improved to 12-2-1-0 on home ice this season while their overall record lifted to 16-10-1-1 this year. The ‘Canes are now 6-4-0-0 against Central Division opponents and 3-1-0-0 against Red Deer.
The Hurricanes continue a three-in-three weekend on Saturday when they visit the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm at Co-op Place before hosting the Tigers on Sunday at 6:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena in their final game before the Christmas break. 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.
