Hurricanes Strike Late, Beat Hitmen 4-3
Calgary, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The matinee affair was the first of what will be four meetings between the Hurricanes and Hitmen in the final 11 games of the regular season. Lethbridge – who had a quick turnaround after suffering a 6-2 loss on Friday to the Kamloops Blazers – had a great start to the game as Noah Chadwick snapped home his first goal in 30-games beating Ethan Buenaventura just 1:48 into the game to give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead; Cole Shepard and Jett Jones earned the assists. The ‘Canes doubled their lead at the midway point of the first period when Brayden Edwards snuck one just across the goal line while shorthanded for his seventh of the season to make it 2-0; Shepard was credited with the lone assist on the goal, his 99th career point. Calgary outshot Lethbridge 11-10 in the opening period but it was the Hurricanes that held the 2-0 lead.
Shots – like in the first period – favoured the Hitmen 11-10 in the middle frame and Calgary cut the Lethbridge lead in half with a power play goal by Carter Yakemchuk 3:45 into the second period to make it 2-1. Just under four minutes later, however, the Hurricanes restored their two-goal lead as Hayden Smith swatted home a bounce of the end wall and passed Buenaventura for his 11th goal of the season – Chadwick and Nolan Bentham picked up the helpers on the goal to make it 3-1. Before the period was out, the Hitmen struck shorthanded on a two-on-one as Sean Tschigerl snuck one by Bryan Thomson to make it 3-2 after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the Hitmen tied the game on Yakemchuk’s second of the afternoon – and 14th goal of the season – as he deked and shelfed a backhand and in to make it 3-3 just 5:07 into the final frame. Calgary pressed to look for a go-ahead goal with a pair of great chances, but Thomson – who made his third straight start – stood tall keeping the game tied. Late in the third period, the Hurricanes pulled ahead as Logan Wormald ripped home his team-leading 21st goal of the season with just 2:12 remaining in regulation one-timing a centering pass from Edwards to make it a 4-3 Lethbridge lead; Tyson Laventure earned the second assist on the goal. The Hitmen used their timeout and pulled the goaltender but they failed to find another equalizer as the Hurricanes hung on to the 4-3 victory.
The Hurricanes were outshot 32-26 in the game. Lethbridge went 0/5 on the power play while Calgary was 1/3 with the extra man – both teams surrendered shorthanded goals in the contest.
Three stars of the game:
1) ‘Canes – #8 Noah Chadwick (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Hitmen – #26 Carter Yakemchuk (2 goals)
3) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (1 goal)
The victory for the Hurricanes ended a three-game losing streak while extending their winning streak against Calgary to three-straight contests. Lethbridge improved their road record to 13-12-1-2 on the season while lifting their overall record to 31-21-3-3 on the season as they move back to within three points of the Moose Jaw Warriors for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hurricanes will continue their four-game road stretch on Friday, March 3rd when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders at 6:00pm MT at the Art Hauser Centre. The ‘Canes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Friday, March 10th when they welcome the Regina Pats.
