Hurricanes Shutout 2-0 by Oil Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened the month of February with a 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge entered after posting a 10-3-0-0 record in the month of January marking the first time since February of 2017 that the ‘Canes won ten games in a single month. The Hurricanes had a strong start to the game with a pair of early chances by Shane Smith who was stopped on an in-tight look by Oil Kings goaltender Ethan Simcoe. Shortly after the Smith chance, Edmonton opened the scoring when Cole Miller jammed home a puck in front after Jackson Unger had the puck jump over his stick behind the net and Marshall Finnie centered to the open Miller who made it 1-0. The Hurricanes had a power play opportunity at the eight-minute mark and despite a great two-minutes of sustained pressure, Lethbridge couldn’t find an equalizer. The ‘Canes had a late chance by Leo Braillard who was able to slip a shot through the legs of Simcoe, but the puck was swept off the goal line as Edmonton held a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes. The ‘Canes held the edge in shots 12-8 in the first period.
Lethbridge continued the onslaught of shots in the second period outshooting Edmonton 14-4 in the middle frame. The Hurricanes came close a handful of times including a back-door chance by Logan Wormald who jammed a puck on goal after it bounced off the end wall, but Simcoe slid across to make a great pad save. The Oil Kings doubled their lead late in the period when Marshall Finnie banked a shot off a defender and into the net with 4:57 remaining in the period to give Edmonton a two-goal lead. The ‘Canes had a late power play in the period, the Oil Kings didn’t give up many chances as they held the 2-0 lead after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes continued to press in hopes of mounting a come-back. Lethbridge outshot Edmonton 9-5 in the final frame. The ‘Canes best chance came when Wormald was set up back door by Brayden Edwards and the Hurricanes leading scorer was robbed by a miraculous glove save by Simcoe to keep it a 2-0 game. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender late in the game but was unable to break the shutout as the Oil Kings hung on for the victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 35-17 in the game. Lethbridge went 0/2 with the power play while Edmonton was 0/3 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Oil Kings – #31 Ethan Simcoe (35-save shutout)
2) Oil Kings – #14 Marshall Finnie (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald
The loss for the Hurricanes was their second-straight home defeat dropping their home record to 17-5-1-0 on the season. Lethbridge’s overall record slipped to 29-16-1-1 on the year as they fell to 3-3-0-0 against the Edmonton Oil Kings this season.
The Hurricanes will visit the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome at 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday, February 7th when they welcome the Prince Albert Raiders for Wall of Honour Night. 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.