Hurricanes Suffer 7-2 Loss to Tigers in Game 2 of East Final; Trail Series 2-0
Medicine Hat, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered a lopsided 7-2 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers at Co-op Place on Saturday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series.
After a 5-2 loss in Game 1 on Friday, the Hurricanes looked to rebound for the road split before the series shifted to Lethbridge for Games 3 & 4. Medicine Hat – like in Game 1 – came out of the gate flying as they struck just 2:37 into the game when Oasiz Wiesblatt lifted home his team-leading 12th goal of the post-season to make it 1-0; Gavin McKenna picked up the lone assists to extend a point-streak to 51-straight games dating back to the regular season to set a new Canadian Hockey League record. Just over three-minutes later, the Tigers struck again when Bryce Pickford scored his first of two goals in the game to double the Medicine Hat lead. The ‘Canes came close to getting on the board with a power play when Noah Chadwick ripped a slapshot off the goal post. Medicine Hat made it a 3-0 lead at the 13:56 mark when Josh Van Mulligen buried a rebound for his third goal giving the Tigers a three-goal lead after one period of play. The Hurricanes were outshot 10-5 in the first period.
Medicine Hat scored early in the second period with the power play as Liam Ruck tapped home a centering pass from Pickford just 1:32 into the period to make it 4-0; McKenna earned the secondary assist on the goal. Lethbridge had a power play of their own in the second period and former Tiger Shane Smith wired a one-timer off the under-side of the crossbar on the man advantage. Lethbridge continued to get in penalty trouble and the Tigers struck on a four-on-three power play when Pickford sniped home his second of the night – and fifth of the post-season – extend the lead to 5-0. Medicine Hat added two goals late in the frame as Misha Volotovskii scored with 2:21 left in the frame before Wiesblatt tapped home his second of the game on another four-on-three power play to make it a 7-0 Tigers lead after two periods of play. Medicine Hat outshot Lethbridge 11-8 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 9-8 in the final twenty minutes. Koen Cleaver replaced Jackson Unger to star the third period marking the second straight game the ‘Canes made a goaltending change. Lethbridge ended the shutout bid of Harrison Meneghin at the 3:46 mark as Kooper Gizowski scored his fourth of the playoffs finishing off a beautiful back-hand pass from Brayden Edwards who extended a point-streak to five-straight games – Vojtech Port picked up the second assist on the goal. The Tigers replaced Meneghin with Jordan Switzer in the final ten-minutes of the game and the Hurricanes managed to find another goal at the 10:19 mark as Anthony Wilson redirected a Logan McCutcheon point shot to make it a 7-2 final.
Lethbridge was outshot 29-22 in the game by Medicine Hat. The Hurricanes went 0/4 on the power play while the Tigers went 3/5 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Tigers – #72 Gavin McKenna (5 assists)
2) Tigers – #27 Bryce Pickford (2 goals, 2 assists)
3) Tigers – #7 Oasiz Wiesblatt (2 goals)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their second-straight loss as they now trail the Eastern Conference Championship Series 2-0. Lethbridge is now 2-1 in Game 2’s in the WHL Playoffs this post-season while their record fell to 4-3-1 on the road during the playoffs. The ‘Canes have now lost six-straight games against the Tigers dating back to the regular season while having been outscored 22-5 in their last three visits to Co-op Place.
The Hurricanes will welcome the Tigers in Game’s 3 & 4 of the best-of-seven Eastern Final on Tuesday and Wednesday 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.
