Hurricanes Suffer Eighth-Straight Loss; Fall 5-4 to Wheat Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their eighth-straight loss on Wednesday falling 5-4 to the Brandon Wheat Kings at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes opened a season-long four-game homestand in the final meeting of the year against the Wheat Kings as Brandon opened a seven-game road trip. Lethbridge had a good start to the game with a few early scoring chances including a shot that grazed the outside of the goal post. Brandon got in penalty trouble midway through the period and the ‘Canes made on twice on a five-on-three opportunity when Owen Berge scored his 11th goal of the year on the two-man advantage to make it 1-0; Kyle Heger and Kayden Longley picked up the assists on the goal. On the subsequent five-on-four power play, the Hurricanes doubled their lead when Kai Anderson buried a one-timer for his ninth of the year to make it 2-0 with two goals in a span of a minute; Nathan Maloney and Will Scott were credited with the assists on the goal. Just under two minutes after the Anderson goal, Brandon cut the lead in half when Joby Baumuller tapped home a loose puck for his team-leading 31st goal of the year to make it a 2-1 game after twenty minutes of play. Shots were even 9-9 in the first period.
Brandon tied the game early in the second period as Cameron Allard walked into a wrist shot beating Koen Cleaver on the blocker side to tie the game 2-2 just 6:10 into the frame. Lethbridge carried the play in the period as they out-chanced Brandon in the period and came close to pulling back in front on a breakaway by Easton Daneault, but he was stopped twice by Filip Ruzicka to keep the game tied. The ‘Canes had another glorious chance on a power play midway through the frame when Longley ripped a one-timer on a cross-seam pass but was denied by Ruzicka who stretched out with his left leg to make a great save. Lethbridge restored their advantage at the 15:46 mark when Gavin Lesiuk poked home a centering pass from Scott to make it a 3-2 game; Daneault picked up the secondary assist on the tally. The Hurricanes double the Wheat Kings in shots 12-6 in the middle frame.
In the third period, Brandon tied the game at the 3:06 with a power play goal by Johnson who back-handed home a rebound for his 13th goal of the year to make it a 3-3 game; Brady Turko and Giorgos Pantelas earned the helpers on the goal. The Wheat Kings took their first lead exactly ten minutes later when Luke Mistelbacher was sprung on a breakaway and made good firing a shot low glove side for his 23rd goal to make it 4-3; affiliate player Ethan Young earned the lone assist on the go-ahead goal. The ‘Canes pulled the goaltender late in the game, but Mistelbacher added an empty-net goal to make it a 5-3 contest with 50-seconds left. The Hurricanes answered back just 19-seconds later when Cohen Pentney – who was called up and made his second appearance of the season – scored his first career goal to pull Lethbridge to within a goal; Scott and Andrew Petruk were credited with the assists on the goal. The ‘Canes pulled the netminder again but ran out of time in hopes of an equalizer as they fell 5-4 to the Wheat Kings. Brandon outshot Lethbridge 11-9 in the third period.
Lethbridge outshot Brandon 30-26 in the game. The Hurricanes went 2/3 on the power play while the Wheat Kings went 1/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #3 Will Scott (3 assists)
2) Wheat Kings – #63 Nicholas Johnson (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #16 Easton Daneault (1 assist)
The loss for the Hurricanes extended their losing streak to eight-straight games as their record fell to 12-33-0-1 on the season. Lethbridge’s home record for to 7-15-0-1 on the season as they fell to 7-10-0-1 in their last 18 games on home ice. The ‘Canes ended the season with a 1-3-0-0 record against the Wheat Kings in four meetings.
The Hurricanes will continue their four-game homestand on Friday when they welcome the Regina Pats at 7:00pm in the ‘Canes lone game of the weekend. 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.
