Hurricanes Suffer Third Straight Loss, Fall 4-3 to Blades
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes had their three-game home winning streak end on Wednesday with a 4-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge opened a two-game homestand on Wednesday as they welcomed Saskatoon for the final time in the regular season. The Blades jumped out to an early lead just 2:24 into the game when Hunter Laing snapped home his 17th goal of the season to make it 1-0 Saskatoon. Just under three minutes later, the Blades struck again when Laing stickhandled home and outwaited Hurricanes netminder Jackson Unger to stuff home his second goal of the game to make it 2-0. Laing appeared to complete a first-period hat-trick with 2:57 remaining in the period tipping home a Grayden Siepmann point shot, but after a video-review, the goal was overturned to keep it a 2-0 game. Lethbridge outshot Saskatoon 9-6 in the first period but trailed 2-0 after twenty minutes of play.
Early in the second period, the Hurricanes were assessed a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Anthony Wilson after a review. Saskatoon failed to score with the four-minute power play to start the period as the ‘Canes had a strong penalty kill. Lethbridge came close to tying the game when Luke Cozens was sprung on a breakaway, but Ethan McCallum made a glove save to keep it a 2-0 Saskatoon lead. After the breakaway, Cozens was tripped as the ‘Canes went to the power play and with the extra man, Lethbridge came close to getting on the board when Brayden Edwards was robbed by the right pad of McCallum on another breakaway. The Hurricanes struck with 6:41 remaining in the period when Shane Smith ripped home his 10th goal of the year to make it a 2-1 game; Kash Andresen and Noah Chadwick – who played in his 200th WHL game – picked up the assists on the goal. Just 1:08 later, the Blades restored their two-goal lead when Kazden Mathies stuffed home a power play goal to make it a 3-1 Saskatoon lead after two periods of play. Shots favoured the Hurricanes 12-11 in the second period.
In the third period, the Hurricanes outshot the Blades 10-7. Saskatoon added to their lead at the 8:54 mark when Hayden Harsanyi scooped home a rebound for his 10th goal of the season to give the Blades a 4-1 advantage. The ‘Canes answered back with a power play goal to make it a two-goal game with 4:20 remaining in the game when Edwards beat McCallum short-side with a one-timer to make it 4-2; Brayden Yager and Kooper Gizowski earned the assists on the goal – Gizowski extended his point streak to five straight games with the helper. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker when Gizowski banged home a loose puck in front with 1:48 left to make it 4-3; Edwards and Yager picked up the assists. The ‘Canes pulled the goaltender again, but couldn’t find an equalizer as they suffered their third-straight defeat falling 4-3 to the Blades.
The Hurricanes outshot the Blades 32-24 in the game. Lethbridge went 1/3 on the power play while going 4/5 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Blades – #27 Hunter Laing (2 goals)
2) ‘Canes – #8 Noah Chadwick (1 assist)
3) Blades – #2 Ben Saunderson (2 assists)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their third-straight defeat as their home-ice record slipped to 20-6-1-0 on the year as their three-game home winning streak came to an end. Lethbridge fell to 34-19-2-1 on the season as their record against the East Division dropped to 15-4-0-0 on the season.
The Hurricanes will complete their two-game homestand on Friday when they welcome the Kamloops Blazers at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena before embarking on a four-game East Division road trip. 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.
