Hurricanes Shutout 3-0 by Tigers
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their fourth-straight loss on Friday with a 3-0 shutout defeat to the Medicine Hat Tigers at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge welcomed Medicine Hat in the first of two home-and-home sets to finish the season series as the ‘Canes entered with an 0-4-0-0 record against the Tigers this year. The Hurricanes had a strong start to the game as they pressure the Tigers defence and caused a few early looks for Kayden Longley and Tyden Lafournaise which were both stopped by Jordan Switzer. Lethbridge had the game’s first power play when Medicine Hat took a too many men penalty when Kyle Heger rang a shot off the goal post. The Tigers earned a power play late in the period, but the Hurricanes were able to kill off the penalty as the game was scoreless after twenty minutes of play. Lethbridge was outshot Medicine Hat 14-10 in the first period.
The ‘Canes opened the second period with a pair of chances, but again Switzer was strong in the Medicine Hat net. The Tigers controlled the period after the first four minutes of the frame; Medicine opened the scoring at the 9:25 mark when Luke Cozenes – who made his return to Lethbridge for the first time – tipped home a centering pass from Jonas Woo to make it a 1-0 lead; Bryce Pickford earned the second assist on the goal. Medicine Hat kept pressing and had a great chance at the side of the net for Kadon McCann who was robbed by Koen Cleaver to keep it a one-goal deficit. The Tigers, however, added to their lead with two goals in 48-seconds; Andrew Basha redirected a Yaroslav Bryzgalov wrist shot into the net to make it 2-0. On the next shift, the Tigers struck again on an odd-man rush when Markus Ruck ripped a shot over the glove for Cleaver for his 16th goal of the season to make it 3-0; Liam Ruck and Noah Davidson earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes were outshot 21-7 in the middle frame as they trailed by three after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Tigers opened with 56-seconds remaining on a carry-over power play while Kade Duell in the penalty box for cross-checking. Medicine Hat had a great chance to add to their lead on the man advantage, but Cleaver once again stood tall making a strong save on Liam Ruck. The ‘Canes pressed to attempt a comeback as they had a pair of power play opportunities in the final twenty minutes of play, but Lethbridge failed to solve Switzer who turned aside all nine shots in the third period. Medicine Hat outshot Lethbridge 17-9 in the final twenty minutes.
The Hurricanes were outshot 52-26 in the game by the Tigers. Lethbridge went 0/3 on the power play while Medicine Hat was 0/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #30 Koen Cleaver (49-saves)
2) Tigers – #34 Andrew Basha (1 goal)
3) Tigers – #18 Jonas Woo (2 assists)
The loss for the Hurricanes marked their fourth-straight defeat as they fell to 4-5-1-0 in their last ten games. Lethbridge dropped to 0-5-0-0 this season against Medicine Hat as they suffered their fifth shutout loss of the season. The ‘Canes record slipped to 16-38-1-1 on the season with the defeat while their home record fell to 10-17-0-1 on the year.
The Hurricanes will visit the Tigers on Saturday at 7:00pm in Medicine Hat at Co-op Place. Lethbridge will return to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday at 7:00pm when they welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.
