Hurricanes Let Lead Slip Away in Loss to Hitmen
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes played a matinee game on Sunday as they had their winning streak end with a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome.
It was a good start for the Hurricanes who had a few good chances on the first handful of shifts of the game, but Ethan Buenaventura made a couple of good saves early. Calgary opened the scoring at the 6:29 mark when Oliver Tulk buried his fifth goal of the season to make it 1-0; Sean Tschigerl earned the lone assist on the goal. The Hitmen were strong defensively in the first period not giving the Hurricanes much through the middle of the ice as the ‘Canes generated just six shots on goal in the period; Calgary had 10 shots as they held the 1-0 lead after one period of play.
The Hurricanes reversed course in the second period as they took control of the game. The ‘Canes tied the game at the 5:51 mark as Logan McCutcheon beat a screened Buenaventura with a point shot on the power play to make it 1-1; Leo Braillard and Brayden Edwards earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge took the lead with another goal on the man advantage as Tyson Zimmer ended a seven-game goal drought with his fourth of the season; Noah Chadwick and Trae Wilke picked up the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes added another goal just under three-minutes later when Buenaventura misplayed the puck and Braillard centered to Dustin Renas who buried his third of the season to make it 3-1 Lethbridge – Braillard scoring his fourth assist in five periods since joining the ‘Canes on Friday. Lethbridge outshot Calgary 18-11 in the middle frame tying a season-high for shots in a period.
In the third period, the Hitmen pulled to within a goal when Tschigerl buried his third of the season on a rebound on a power play to make it a 3-2 contest; Ben Kindel and Carter Yakemchuk picked up the helper on the goal. Just over four-minutes later, Calgary tied the game when Carson Wetsch whacked a loose puck passed Smith to even the game 3-3 at the 9:14 mark – the goal, which was originally waived off was overturned after a review. In the final minute, Hurricanes forward Kooper Gizowski was issued a hooking penalty and on the ensuing man advantage – after a timeout by Calgary – the Hitmen struck on the power play as Yakemchuk ripped home a slapshot with just 24.6-seconds left in the game. The Hurricanes pulled the goaltender, but ran out of time as Calgary ended their six-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 14-13 in the third period while Lethbridge outshot Calgary 37-35 in the game. The ‘Canes went 2/4 on the power play while the Hitmen were 2/5 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Hitmen – #26 Carter Yakemchuk (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Hitmen – #23 Ben Kindel (3 assists)
3) Hitmen – #19 Sean Tschigerl (1 goal, 1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended their two-game winning streak as they fall to 6-3-0-0 against Central Division opponents. The ‘Canes have now lost three-straight road games as their road record falls to 3-5-0-0 on the season while their overall record slipped to 7-5-1-0 on the year.
The Hurricanes return to the ENMAX Centre on Wednesday to welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first of a three-game homestand at 7:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.enmaxcentre.ca.
