Hurricanes Snap Skid with 5-3 Win Over Warriors
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Tuesday as they ended a six-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Brayden Yager and Jackson Unger made their Hurricanes debut in the game as they suited up against their former team for the first time. Lethbridge had a great start to the game as they peppered Moose Jaw early holding an early 7-0 shot advantage but failed to open the scoring on an early power play opportunity. Back-to-back penalties to the Warriors resulted in a five-on-three man advantage for the ‘Canes, but early on the chance Moose Jaw struck first with a two-man short goal when Rilen Kovacevic scored on a breakaway to make it 1-0. Lethbridge outshot Moose Jaw 16-3 in the opening frame but trailed after twenty minutes of play.
Early in the second period, the Hurricanes pulled even when Hayden Pakkala snapped home his fifth goal of the year to make it a 1-1 game; Carsen Adair and Kooper Gizowski earned the assists on Pakkala’s third goal in the last four games. The tie, however, lasted just 59-seconds, as the Warriors pulled back in front with a goal by Pavel McKenzie to make it 2-1. Lethbridge drew even again with a power play goal at the 10:35 mark as Noah Chadwick scored his 100th WHL point with a shot from the blueline to make it 2-2; Brayden Edwards and Miguel Marques picked up the helpers on the equalizing goal. The Hurricanes held the edge in shots 12-8 in the middle frame as the game was tied after two periods.
In the third period, Moose Jaw took their third lead with a power play goal by Lynden Lakovic just passed the midway point of the period to make it 3-2 as he wired home his 13th goal of the season. Lethbridge responded just under four-minutes later when Logan Wormald buried a one-timer for his 14th goal to tie the game at 3-3, marking the third time the ‘Canes came back to tie the game; Edwards and Will Sharpe were credited with the assists. The Hurricanes continued to press late in the game and Wormald struck again with 1:02 remaining in the game wiring home a shot after a broken play to the Lethbridge their first lead of the game. Moose Jaw called their timeout and pulled the goaltender in hopes of finding an equalizer themselves, but with 0.3-second left in the game Yager scored his first goal as a Hurricane potting an empty net goal to make it a 5-3 final.
Lethbridge outshot Moose Jaw 11-10 in the third period and 39-21 in the game. The Hurricanes went 1/7 on the power play while the Warriors were 1/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (2 goals)
2) Warriors – #30 Brady Smith (34-saves)
3) ‘Canes – #19 Brayden Edwards (2 assists)
The win for the Hurricanes ended a season-long six game losing streak while it improved their home-ice record to 9-2-1-0 while their overall record lifted to 13-10-1-1 on the season. Lethbridge improved to 3-0-0-0 against Moose Jaw this year while their record against East Division opponents increased to 8-3-0-0 on the season.
The Hurricanes will welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday at 7:00pm as they host their annual Canadian Tire Toque and Teddy Toss at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Limited tickets remain available and 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.
