Pouteau Sends Canes to Seventh Heaven with OT Winner
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned home to face the Edmonton Oil Kings Wednesday night at the ENMAX Centre and the ‘Canes picked up their seventh straight victory earning a 2-1 overtime win.
It was a sluggish start to the game for the Hurricanes who skated to a scoreless tie with Edmonton after twenty minutes of play. The ‘Canes and Oil Kings were tied in the shot department 9-9 after the first period. Both teams had a handful of looks to opening the scoring, but Ryan Gilchrist for Lethbridge and Josh Dechaine for Edmonton were perfect. The ‘Canes had the only power play opportunity in the first period and failed to generate much of an attack.
The same continued for the Hurricanes and Oil Kings in the second period. Edmonton outshot the Hurricanes 10-4 in the middle frame as they led the shots 19-13 after forty minutes of play. The Hurricanes finally opened the scoring with 1:27 left in the second period as Tyler Wong rushed in on the right side and was able to snap home his WHL-leading 49th goal of the season giving the ‘Canes a 1-0 lead – Egor Babenko picked up the lone assist. The goal for Wong extended his point scoring streak to 11 games as the ‘Canes led 1-0 after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes started to take over outshooting the Oil Kings 14-6 in the third period. Edmonton tied the game however as Conner McDonald blasted home his eighth of the season at the 11:02 mark to tie the game 1-1 – Davis Koch and Graham Millar picked up the assists on the game-tying goal. The Hurricanes had a couple of flurries late in the game but were unable to capitalize.
The Hurricanes and Oil Kings went to overtime, it was the third time in four games the ‘Canes went to extra time. The ‘Canes had a power play early in overtime but were unable to pot the game winning goal. After multiple chances for both teams, Brady Pouteau picked up the puck in his own zone and lugged the puck through centre-ice into the Edmonton zone and roofed home his first as a Hurricane to lift the ‘Canes to a 2-1 overtime victory – it was the first goal for Pouteau in 78 games.
The ‘Canes and Oil Kings each had two shots in the overtime period, Lethbridge held the edge 29-27 in the hockey game. The ‘Canes and Oil Kings both went 0/3 on the power play.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #28 Brady Pouteau – 1 goal
2) ‘Canes – #33 Ryan Gilchrist – 26 saves
3) Oil Kings – #35 Josh Dechaine – 27 saves
The Hurricanes have now won seven straight games and improved their record to 19-1-1-1 in their last 22 games on home ice. The ‘Canes are now 43-17-4-3 on the season and continue to sit two points back of the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Central Division lead.
The Hurricanes will return to action on Friday when they travel to Calgary to visit the Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome. The ‘Canes will be back at the ENMAX Centre on Saturday when they welcome the Hitmen in the back-half of a home-and-home set on Fan Appreciation Night.
