Hurricanes Win Fifth Straight, Beat Oil Kings 4-1
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a four-game homestand on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes entered action having posted a 7-1-0-1 record in their last nine home games with their lobe regulation loss in that span to the Oil Kings on November 19th. The ‘Canes had a great start to the game pinning the Oil Kings in their own zone with a few good looks, including a point-blank chance by reigning WHL Player of the Week Tyson Laventure but Edmonton’s netminder Kolby Hay made a great save to keep it scoreless. The Oil Kings found their stride midway through the period and started peppering Hurricanes goaltender Harrison Meneghin who turned aside all 16 Edmonton shots while the ‘Canes directed 12 shots on goal but the first period ended scoreless after twenty minutes.
Lethbridge poured it on in the middle frame outshooting Edmonton 17-5 in the second period. The ‘Canes broke a scoreless tie as Cole Shepard snapped home his 11th goal of the season on a two-on-one at the 10:07 mark to make it 1-0 Lethbridge. Edmonton answered back with a four-on-three power play goal by Nathan Pilling – his first goal as an Oil King – to tie the game 1-1; Gavin Hodnett and Vojtech Port earned the assists on the goal. Just over two-minutes later, the Hurricanes pulled back in from on a delayed penalty as Chase Pauls redirected home his second goal of the season on a cross-ice pass by Shepard; Dustin Renas was credited with the second assist on the go-ahead goal as the Hurricanes led 2-1 after forty minutes of play.
In the third period, the ‘Canes continued to pepper the Oil Kings directing 19-shots in the frame. The ‘Canes were able to break through with an insurance marker on a two-on-one when Miguel Marques centered to Logan Wormald who stuffed home his 11th goal of the season to extend his point-scoring streak to five-straight games. Just over three-minutes later, the Hurricanes added another goal as Tristan Zandee banked home his fourth goal of the season with 1:27 remaining in the game; Pauls and Joe Arntsen picked up the helpers as the Hurricanes earned a 4-1 victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 19-6 in the third period and 48-27 in the game, marking a new season-high for shots in a game. Lethbridge went 0/1 on the power play while Edmonton was 1/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #27 Cole Shepard (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Oil Kings – #30 Kolby Hay (44-saves)
3) ‘Canes – #3 Chase Pauls (1 goal, 1 assist)
The victory improved the ‘Canes season-long winning streak to five-straight games – the first five-game winning streak for the Hurricanes dating back to February of 2020. Lethbridge improved to 8-1-0-1 in their last ten home games while lifting to 14-3-0-1 in their last 18 outings. The Hurricanes also vaulted into sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 19-11-0-1 on the season.
The Hurricanes continue their homestand with a pair of home games on Friday against the Kelowna Rockets and Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen at 7:00pm at the ENMAX Centre. Individual game tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) and online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
