Hurricanes Suffer Overtime Loss to Tigers on Friday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes had their four-game winning streak end on Friday with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers at a sold out VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge entered Friday’s game sitting four-points behind Medicine Hat in the Eastern Conference standings. The ‘Canes had a great first period as they carried the play out-chancing the Tigers in the opening period. Lethbridge had a great look on a two-on-one as Brayden Yager slipped a pass across to Miguel Marques who ripped a shot wide of the net. The teams traded chances in a stretch of over 11-straight minutes without a whistle; the ‘Canes had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring on a breakaway for Marques who was stopped by Harrison Meneghin in the Tigers crease. On the play, the Hurricanes were assessed an interference penalty. On the ensuing power play, Medicine Hat struggled to set up in the offensive zone and the best scoring chance came shorthanded goa Brayden Edwards who was stymied by Meneghin on a shorthanded breakaway to keep the game scoreless after one period of play. The ‘Canes outshot the Tigers 13-7 in the first period which only had eight faceoffs and took just 24-minutes to play.
Early in the second period, the Hurricanes opened the scoring just 1:12 in when Noah Chadwick slipped home his 13th goal of the season on a cut to the net from the right wing to make it a 1-0 Lethbridge lead; Brayden Yager and Logan Wormald earned the assists on the goal as Chadwick set a new career-high. Just 39-seconds later, the ‘Canes struck again as Kooper Gizowski potted a rebound to make it 2-0 just 1:51 into the middle frame; Wormald and Brayden Edwards were credited with the assists on the goal. Medicine Hat cut the Lethbridge lead under a minute after the ‘Canes went up 2-0 as Liam Ruck scored his 23rd goal to make it a one-goal game. The Hurricanes restored their two-goal lead with a power play goal by Marques at the 12:38 mark making it a 3-1 game; Shane Smith and Trae Johnson earned the assists on the goal. Lethbridge was outshot 12-10 in the second period.
In the third, the ‘Canes struck just 1:12 into the frame as Gizowski buried his second goal of the game – and fourth in the last two games – to make it a 4-1 Lethbridge lead; Wormald earned the lone assist on Gizowski’s 17th goal to set a new career-high. Less than two minutes after the ‘Canes extended their lead, Tanner Molendyk struck to end a 13-game goal drought cutting the lead to 4-2 at the 3:03 mark. Medicine Hat scored again 1:42 later as McKenna buried a rebound to make it a one-goal game again. The Tigers kept their foot on the gas and pulled even as Oasiz Wiesblatt ended a give-and-go with a shot to over the blocker of Jackson Unger to tie the game at 4-4. At the 9:54 mark, the Tigers took their first lead when Kadon McCann redirected a point shot home for his 11th goal to make it a 5-4 Medicine Hat lead – Tigers scored four goals in a span of 6:49. Lethbridge drew even themselves with 6:36 remaining as Marques snapped home his second of the night – and 13th of the season – to make it a 5-5 game; Yager and Braillard picked up the assists on the goal. Neither team could find a go-ahead goal as the game went to overtime. The ‘Canes were outshot 13-12 in the third period.
In the extra session, the Hurricanes had an early chance to end the game, but Meneghin made a pad save off Chadwick to keep the game alive. Medicine Hat found a game-winning goal at the 1:56 mark of overtime when Wiesblatt ripped home his second of the night to give the Tigers a 6-5 victory; Molendyk and McKenna earned the assists on the goal.
The Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 36-34 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/1 on the power play while Medicine Hat was 0/1 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Tigers – #72 Gavin McKenna (1 goal, 3 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #18 Logan Wormald (3 assists)
3) Tigers – #24 Tanner Molendyk (1 goal, 2 assists)
The defeat for the Hurricanes extended their point streak to nine-straight games while ending a four-game winning streak. Lethbridge’s overall record slipped to 41-19-3-2 on the season while their home-ice record fell to 24-6-2-0 on the year. The ‘Canes fell to 3-3-1-0 against the Tigers this season as it marked the first time this year Lethbridge lost when leading after two periods of play.
The Hurricanes will play the fifth of their six-game homestand on Saturday at 6:00pm when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to 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.
