Hurricanes Suffer 3-2 Loss to Raiders on Saturday
Prince Albert, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes ended the month of November on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.
The game was the final of a stretch of nine games in nine different cities for the Hurricanes. Prince Albert, who entered with an 8-1-1-0 record in the previous 10 games, had a great start as they opened the scoring just 29-seconds into the period on a goal by Brayden Dube who buried his 10th goal of the season to make it 1-0; Daxon Rudolph and Aiden Oiring earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes drew even at the 13:12 mark when they scored a power play goal as Brayden Edwards scored his 13th goal of the year to tie the game 1-1; Miguel Marques and Noah Chadwick earned the assists on the equalizer. Late in the period, the Raiders went to the power play for the second time in the game and the ’Canes penalty killers were elite blocking countless Prince Albert shots to kill the penalty and keep the game tied after twenty minutes of play. The Raiders outshot the Hurricanes 9-7 in the first period.
Lethbridge had a strong second period as they out-chanced Prince Albert and pulled ahead at the 11:42 mark when Hayden Pakkala buried home his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-1; Trae Johnson and Will Sharpe picked up the assists on the goal – for Johnson, he extended his point streak to three straight games. The Raiders tied the game just 1:59 later when Dube scored his second goal of the night on the right-wing beating Koen Cleaver low glove to tie the game 2-2. Before the period was out, Prince Albert pulled ahead on a point blast by the Raiders captain Justice Christensen to make it a 3-2 game with 45-seconds remaining in the frame; Tomas Mrsic earned the lone assist as the Raiders led after forty minutes of play. The Hurricanes outshot the Raiders 16-10 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Raiders had an early power play opportunity as Noah Chadwick was assessed a holding call. Prince Albert kept Lethbridge pinned on the man advantage and came close to doubling their lead as Lukas Dragicevic wired a point shot off the goal post on their best look as the ‘Canes were able to kill the remainder of the power play. The Hurricanes came close on a flurry to tie the game as Tristen Doyle was set up in the high-slot by Logan Wormald, but Doyle’s shot was shrugged away the bid to keep it a 3-2 game. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender late in the game, but couldn’t find a tying goal as Prince Albert held on to the 3-2 victory.
Shots in the game favoured the Hurricanes 28-26 while Lethbridge went 1/2 on the power play and 4/4 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Raiders – #15 Brayden Dube (2 goals)
2) Raiders – #19 Aiden Oiring (2 assists)
3) Raiders – #35 Dmitri Fortin (26-saves)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their sixth straight defeat as they fell to 0-5-0-1 in that stretch. Lethbridge’s road record fell to 4-8-0-1 on the year while their overall record slipped to 12-10-1-1 on the season. The ‘Canes ended the month of November with a 4-7-0-1 record in 12 contests.
Lethbridge will return home to welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. 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.
