Hurricanes Outshoot Wheat Kings But Fall 6-3
Brandon, MB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued a seven-game road trip on Friday in Brandon with a 6-3 loss to the Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.
The two teams had a fast-paced period which saw Brandon strike first on a power play as Nolan Ritchie tapped home a centering pass from Jake Chiasson – who made his season debut for the Wheat Kings – to make it 1-0. Just 1:25 later, the Hurricanes tied the game with a power play goal of their own as Jett Jones banged home his 13th goal of the season to make it 1-1; Logan McCutcheon and Yegor Klavdiev earned the assists on the goal. The Wheat Kings took a pair of boarding penalties in quick succession resulting in a two-man advantage. On the 5-on-3 power play, the Hurricanes hit a pair of crossbars as Alex Thacker and Justin Hall both rang metal to keep the game tied. Shortly after the power play, the ‘Canes pulled ahead when Ty Nash buried his 16th goal of the year to make it 2-1 Lethbridge; Brayden Edwards and Tyson Laventure picked up the helpers on the goal. Before the period was out, Brandon equalized with a final minute goal by Chiasson who swatted home a puck out of the air to make it 2-2 after one period of play. Shots favoured the Wheat Kings 16-15 in the first period.
Early in the second period, Brandon was issued a power play and had the Hurricanes hemmed in their own zone. Right as the penalty expired, the Wheat Kings pulled ahead as Nychuk beat Thomson five-hole to make it a 3-2 Wheat King lead. Just under five-minutes later, the Wheaties struck again as Ritchie buried a backhander on the power play to make it a 4-2 Brandon lead. The Hurricanes would push back outshooting the Wheat Kings 14-9 in the middle frame and with 4:08 remaining, Jones got to the net and roofed a backhander passed Ethan Kruger to make it a 4-3 game after two periods of play.
The Hurricanes had a power play early in the third period as the ‘Canes pressed from the outset of the frame. Lethbridge hit a pair of posts on the man advantage – Hurricanes had a total of five goal posts in the game – as both Joe Arntsen and Laventure hit the pipe to keep Brandon ahead by a goal. The ‘Canes continued to press but a turnover behind the net in the Lethbridge zone midway through the period resulted in a hat-trick goal for Ritchie who outwaited Thomson to make it 5-3 with 7:09 left in the contest. Brandon added an empty-net goal with just 10-seconds as Tyson Zimmer rounded out the scoring 6-3 the final.
Hurricanes outshot the Wheat Kings 15-10 in the third period and 44-35 overall in the contest. Lethbridge went 1/6 with the power play while Brandon was 2/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Wheat Kings – #10 Nolan Ritchie (3 goals, 1 assist)
2) Wheat Kings – #19 Jake Chiasson (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #17 Jett Jones (2 goals)
The loss for the Hurricanes ends their two-game winning streak as they fall to 1-1-0-0 on their seven-game road trip after earning the Manitoba split. Lethbridge falls to 9-15-0-0 on the road this season as their overall record falls to 22-25-2-1 on the campaign.
The Hurricanes are right back it on Saturday as they visit the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre at 6:00pm before continuing their road trip in Prince Albert on Tuesday. The Hurricanes will return to the ENMAX Centre on March 16th when the welcome the Regina Pats at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com or in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre.
