PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Hurricanes Look For First Win of Series in Game 3
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight at 7:00pm at the ENMAX Centre in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series presented by Stringam Law.
The Hurricanes trail the best-of-seven series 2-0 after suffering a 5-1 loss in Game 2 in Moose Jaw. Anton Astashevich scored the lone goal in the defeat on the power play while Bryan Thomson made 29-saves in the setback. Lethbridge went 1/4 on the power play while being outshot 34-22 in the game. The ‘Canes posted a 21-20-1-2 record at home during the regular season.
The Warriors lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after the Game 2 victory on home ice. Overage goaltender Connor Ungar made 21-saves in the contest while five different goal scorers lit the lamp, including: Atley Calvert, Ryder Korczak, Martin Rysavy, Denton Mateychuk and Lucas Brenton. Moose Jaw finished the regular season with a 20-12-0-2 road record.
Tonight will be Game 3 of the best-of-seven series as the Hurricanes will look for their first playoff victory since March 31st, 2019. Lethbridge went 1-1-0-0 against Moose Jaw at the ENMAX Centre during the regular season, winning the final meeting 4-1 on February 1st.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-04-04 – LET vs. MJ – GAME 3
VS. WARRIORS: Tonight is Game 3 of the best-of-seven first round playoff series between the Hurricanes and Warriors. Moose Jaw leads the best-of-seven series 2-0. The ‘Canes have posted a 1-5-0-0 record in six games, regular season and playoffs combined, against the Warriors this season. The series now shifts to the ENMAX Centre for Games 3 and 4; the Hurricanes went 1-1-0-0 against the Warriors at home during the regular season, defeating Moose Jaw in their last visit on February 1st.
2023 PLAYOFF SERIES: (* if necessary)
Game 1 – Fri, March 31st, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw (2-1 OT2 MJ)
Game 2 – Sat, April 1st, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw (5-1 MJ)
Game 3 – Tue, April 4th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
Game 4 – Wed, April 5th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
*Game 5 – Fri, April 7th, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
*Game 6 – Sat, April 8th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
*Game 7 – Tue, April 11th, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
REGULAR SEASON VS. WARRIORS: During the regular season, the Hurricanes faced the Warriors on four occasions, posting a 1-3-0-0 record. Lethbridge went 1-1-0-0 at home while going 0-2-0-0 on the road. The ‘Canes were outscored 18-14 in the four games (4.50 to 3.50 avg). Lethbridge has posted an all-time regular season record of 85-78-5-1 with six ties while going 32-49-1-1 with five ties all-time in Moose Jaw. Lethbridge is 8-14-1-0 all-time in 23 visits to the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 15th/2022 – at Moose Jaw (4-3 MJ)
January 4th/2023 – at Lethbridge (5-3 MJ)
February 1st/2023 – at Lethbridge (4-1 LET)
February 21st/2023 – at Moose Jaw (8-4 MJ)
2022-2023 LET TOP SCORERS vs. MJ:
Blake Swetlikoff – 3G, 2A – 5 points
Joe Arntsen – 2G, 3A – 5 points
Anton Astashevich – 3G, 1A – 4 points
Nine Players – 2 points
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (22) – Logan Wormald & Tyson Laventure
Assists (35) – Cole Shepard
Points (55) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (90) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+11) – Chase Pauls & Tristan Zandee
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.919) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.63) – Bryan Thomson
END OF SEASON STREAKING:
– Tristan Zandee had points in 5 straight games (5a); 7 of 9 games (7a); 11 of 16 games (2g-10a)
– Miguel Marques had points in 3 straight games (1g-2a); 4 of 5 games (2g-2a)
– Tyson Zimmer had points in 2 straight games (2g); 6 of 7 games (3g-5a); 11 of 19 games (8g-7a)
– Anton Astashevich had points in 2 straight games (2a); 3 of 4 games (3a)
– Joe Arntsen had points in 4 of 5 games (1g-3a); 6 of 8 games (2g-4a); 18 of 27 games (5g-15a)
– Hayden Smith had points in 2 of 3 games (3g-1a); 3 of 5 games (3g-2a); 5 of 13 games (4g-3a)
– Brayden Edwards had points in 4 of 6 games (2g-5a); 6 of 11 games (4g-6a); 12 of 20 games (6g-10a)
– Noah Chadwick had points in 3 of 5 games (1g-3a); 5 of 12 games (2g-5a)
– Jett Jones had points in 4 of 7 games (2g-2a); 5 of 10 games (2g-3a); 32 of 55 games (17g-27a)
– Tyson Laventure had points in 2 of 5 games (2g-3a); 3 of 7 games (2g-4a); 23 of 40 games (19g-16a)
– Cole Shepard had points in 2 of 4 games (1g-2a); 3 of 6 games (1g-3a); 15 of 26 games (7g-14a)
– Logan Wormald had points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 4 of 9 games (2g-2a); 7 of 14 games (3g-4a)
NEWS & NOTES:
26 Years Later: The Hurricanes will face the Warriors in the first round of the WHL Playoffs for the first time since 1997 when Lethbridge dispatched Moose Jaw in six games in the second round en route to the WHL Championship. This will mark just the third time in history that the ‘Canes and Warriors have met in the post-season with the only other meeting resulting in a five-game series win for Lethbridge in 1991.
Game 3’s: Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 18-20 in Game 3’s in their WHL post-season history. The ‘Canes are 4-4 in their last eight Game 3’s. When winning Game 3 in a series, Lethbridge has gone on to post a series record of 13-5 in their playoff history.
Playoff Experience: The Hurricanes have a total of 98 man-games worth of WHL playoff experience. The most experienced of Hurricanes are Bryan Thomson and Tyson Zimmer who have both appeared in five previous playoff games in their WHL career. Moose Jaw has 210 man-games of playoff experience.
All-Time Record: In the playoffs, the Hurricanes have posted an all-time record of 86-110 in 196 franchise post-season games while posting an all-time series record of 18-20 in 38 previous playoff series. The ‘Canes were swept in the first-round of the WHL Playoffs by the Edmonton Oil Kings in last year’s playoffs.
Down the Stretch: The Hurricanes posted a 4-3-0-0 record in their final seven regular season games. In those seven outings, the ‘Canes scored 27 goals, averaging 3.86 goals per game, having scored five-or-more goals in all four of their wins. Lethbridge averaged just 2.96 goals per game during the season.
Seventh Heaven: The 2023 WHL Playoffs marks the seventh straight season the Hurricanes have qualified for the post-season, marking a new franchise record for consecutive playoff appearances. The record surpassed the six straight years Lethbridge made the playoffs between 1988-89 and 1993-94.
35+ Wins: Lethbridge ended the regular season with 36 victories which marked the fifth time in the last seven seasons (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have reached the 35-win mark. It was the 13th time in team history the Hurricanes reached that plateau. It is also the seventh consecutive season recording 30-or-more wins, the longest stretch in franchise history – previous long was five years consecutively from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
Second All-Time: Overage netminder Bryan Thomson finished his regular season career sitting second
all-time in victories in Hurricanes history with 59 career wins. He surpassed Logan Koopmans for second on March 24th while only trails Stuart Skinner, who is the all-time leader with 88 victories. The Moose Jaw product also finished fifth all-time in games played with 117 appearances.
4 x 20: The Hurricanes finished the 2022-2023 regular season with four players who reached the 20-goal mark. Logan Wormald and Tyson Laventure tied for the team lead with 22 goals while Jett Jones had 21 and Cole Shepard 20. Last season, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals. It’s the first time since 2019-20 season that the ‘Canes have four-or-more 20-goal scorers; that year the ‘Canes had five led by Dylan Cozens who scored 38-goals.
