PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Hurricanes Look to Stay Alive, Again

Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes will look to keep their season alive for the second straight night as they visit the Red Deer Rebels tonight at 5:00pm.

The Hurricanes staved off elimination on Saturday with a 5-3 victory in Game 5 over the Rebels in Lethbridge at the ENMAX Centre. Giorgio Estephan returned after missing Games 3 and 4 and didn’t miss a beat picking up a goal and two assists. Matt Alfaro, Zak Zborosky, Zane Franklin and Alec Baer added the others in the win while Stuart Skinner made 39 saves for the victory.

The Rebels failed to close out the series. Brandon Hagel scored two more goals while Michael Spacek added the other in the losing cause. Riley Lamb was strong again making 36 saves on the night. The Rebels power play remained red hot as it scored twice on four opportunities.

The ‘Canes will look to earn a Game 6 victory and force a seventh and deciding game on Tuesday at the ENMAX Centre.

PLAYOFF SERIES: Tonight will be Game 6 of the best-of-seven series between the Hurricanes and the Rebels. The Rebels lead the series three games to two. It’s the first meeting between the Hurricanes and Rebels in the post-season since 2002 and the fifth time all-time.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES: (* if necessary)                              HURRICANE TOP 5 PLAYOFF SCORERS
Game 1 – March 25^th, 7:00pm – at Lethbridge (4-2 RD)             Egor Babenko – 3G. 4A, 7 points
Game 2 – March 26^th, 6:00pm – at Lethbridge (5-2 LH)              Tyler Wong – 4G, 3A – 7 points
Game 3 – March 29^th, 7:00pm – at Red Deer (4-3 OT2 RD)       Zak Zborosky – 2G, 3A – 5 points
Game 4 – Thu, March 30^th, 7:00pm – at Red Deer (5-3 RD)       Brennan Menell – 1G, 3A – 4 points
Game 5 – Sat, April 1^st, 7:00pm – at Lethbridge (5-3 LH)           Giorgio Estephan – 1G, 3A – 4 points
Game 6 – Sun, April 2^nd, 5:00pm – at Red Deer
*Game 7 – Tue, April 4^th, 7:00pm – at Lethbridge

2016-2017 PLAYOFF STATS LEADERS:
Goals (3) – Egor Babenko                                                 Assists (3) – Jordy Bellerive
Points (3) – Egor Babenko & Jordy Bellerive
PIMS (7) – Zane Franklin                                                   Plus/Minus (+4) – Ryan Vandervlis & Egor Babenko
Wins (1) – Stuart Skinner                                                   Shutouts (0) – N/A
Save % (.914) – Stuart Skinner                                        Goals Against Average (2.52) – Stuart Skinner

1. REBELS, REGULAR SEASON: The Hurricanes and Rebels met six times in the 2016-2017 regular season with the ‘Canes posting a 5-0-1-0 record. The ‘Canes were 12-1-1-0 in their last 14 regular season head-to-head meetings. The lone Red Deer win came December 3^rd at the ENMAX Centrium.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES:                                                          HURRICANE TOP 5 SEASON SCORERS
October 29^th/2016 – at Lethbridge (6-1 Hurricanes)                     Tyler Wong – 51G, 58A – 109 points
December 2^nd/2016 – at Lethbridge (5-3 Hurricanes)                 Giorgio Estephan – 35G, 54A – 89 points
December 3^rd/2016 – at Red Deer (3-2 OT Rebels)                     Zak Zborosky – 41G, 33A – 74 points
January 7^th/2017 – at Lethbridge (3-1 Hurricanes)                       Brennan Menell – 12G, 59A – 71 points
February 1^st/2017 – at Red Deer (3-2 OT Hurricanes)                 Matt Alfaro – 25G, 35A – 60 points
February 8^th/2017 – at Red Deer (7-3 Hurricanes)

2016-2017 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (51) – Tyler Wong                                                    Assists (59) – Brennan Menell
Points (109) – Tyler Wong
PIMS (103) – Zane Franklin                                              Plus/Minus (+29) – Tyler Wong
Wins (34) – Stuart Skinner                                                 Shutouts (2) – Stuart Skinner
Save % (.906) – Stuart Skinner                                        Goals Against Average (3.26) – Stuart Skinner

2016-2017 REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE LEADERS:
– Tyler Wong was tied 1^st in WHL Goals with 51 & 3^rd in WHL Scoring with 109 points
– Tyler Wong was tied 4^th in WHL PP Goals with 15 & tied 2^nd in WHL Game Winning Goals with 10
– Giorgio Estephan was tied 11^th in WHL Goals with 35 & is tied 9^th in WHL Scoring with 89 points
– Zak Zborosky was 5^th in WHL Goals with 41 & tied 3^rd in WHL Power Play Goals with 16
– Brennan Menell was tied 3^rd in WHL PP Assists with 28 & 2^nd in WHL Defenseman Scoring with 71 points
– Brennan Menell was tied 9^th in WHL Defenseman Goals with 12 & 1^st in WHL Defenseman Assists with 59
– Calen Addison was tied 10^th in WHL Rookie Scoring with 33 points (2^nd among Rookie D-man Scoring)
– Calen Addison was 1^st among 2000-born scorers in the WHL with 33 points
– Stuart Skinner was 2^nd in Games Played (60); 2^nd in WHL Wins with 34 & tied 6^th in WHL Losses with 18
– Stuart Skinner was 2^nd in WHL Minutes by a Goalie (3386) & 2^nd in WHL Shots (1933) & 2^nd Saves (1749)

NEWS & NOTES:
New Life: The Hurricanes find themselves still alive in the 2017 WHL Playoffs after earning a 5-3 victory on Saturday night. The ‘Canes have never forced a Game 6 when trailing a series three games to one. The Hurricanes face another must win game tonight to try and force a seventh and deciding game on Tuesday.

Lead Me: The Hurricanes have had a difficult time holding leads in this series. The ‘Canes have had a two goal lead in four of five games in the series only to see Red Deer storm back to win three out of the five games despite being behind the eight-ball. The ‘Canes were 32-2-2-2 in the regular season when leading after forty minutes but are 1-2-1-0 in the playoffs.