Hurricanes Knock Off Royals 5-1 in Lone Meeting
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their second-straight victory on Tuesday downing the Victoria Royals 5-1 at the ENMAX Centre.
It was Victoria’s first visit to Lethbridge since December 28, 2018, and the first meeting between the Hurricanes and Royals since November of 2019. It was a feeling-out process early in the game as the two teams struggled to find some synchronicity in the opening period. The ‘Canes opened the scoring at the 6:53 mark when former Royals defenceman Nolan Bentham snuck one through goaltender Tyler Palmer to make it 1-0 as Bentham scored against his former team in his first game against Victoria; Zach Bansley earned an assist on the goal for his first WHL point while Ross Stanley had the second assist. Victoria tied the game 1-1 as Carter Dereniwsky banged home a loose puck at the side of the net on a power play at the 10:18 mark. Victoria outshot Lethbridge 14-9 in the first period.
The ’Canes had an offensive outburst in the second period matching a season high for most goals in a single period with three. Just 4:12 into the middle frame, Palmer gave up the puck behind the net and Tyson Laventure centered to Jett Jones who slapped home his team-leading seventh goal of the season to make it 2-1. Lethbridge added a power play goal on a five-on-three opportunity when Bentham buried a one-timer for his second of the night and third of the season to make it 3-1; Logan Wormald earned the assist on the goal. Victoria nearly cut the lead to one on a dump in the deflected off a linesman’s skate and forced netminder Harrison Meneghin to slide back into the net to make a leg save – Meneghin made 30-saves in the victory. The Hurricanes added another goal before the end of the frame when Joe Arntsen scored his fourth goal of the year to make it 4-1 Lethbridge after two periods. The ‘Canes outshot the Royals 15-12 in the second period.
In the third period, the Hurricanes added another early power play goal as Wormald snapped home his third goal of the year just 49-seconds into the frame to make it 5-1; Logan McCutcheon and Cole Shepard were credited with the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes continued to pour it on the Royals before Victoria had a late power play but couldn’t solve Meneghin as Lethbridge hung on to the 5-1 victory.
The five goals matched a season-high for goals in the game. Lethbridge went 2/5 on the power play and 3/4 on the penalty kill. The ‘Canes outshot the Royals 36-31 in the contest.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #4 Nolan Bentham (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #25 Ross Stanley (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes was their second-straight victory as they improved to 4-3-0-0 on home ice and 7-8-0-0 overall on the season. The victory was the ‘Canes first win against Victoria dating back to December of 2017.
The Hurricanes welcome the Vancouver Giants on Friday at 7:00pm at the ENMAX Centre before visiting the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday. Individual game tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) and online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
