GAME DAY: Hurricanes Entertain Ice at ENMAX Centre
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes return home tonight to host the Kootenay Ice at the ENMAX Centre at 7:00pm.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over the Red Deer Rebels in Red Deer last night. Jayden Sittler made 36 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped all three Red Deer shooters in the shootout to improve to 7-1-0-0 lifetime against his hometown team. Egor Babenko and Justin Gutierrez each scored their 20th goals of the season; Hurricanes now have four players with 20+ goals on the year.
The win for the Hurricanes improved their road record to 13-9-0-0 on the season and 29-12-0-0 overall for a total of 58 points. The ‘Canes enter action tonight in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference and just one point shy of the WHL-leading Kelowna Rockets for first overall.
The Ice meanwhile have found a little success in the midst of a difficult season. Kootenay, despite just having eight victories on the season, have won back-to-back games after earning a 5-3 win over the Regina Pats last night in Cranbrook.
The Ice enter tonight with an overall record of 8-31-3-0 on the season. The ‘Canes have won all four meetings against Kootenay, the last one in Lethbridge was a 9-0 win for the ‘Canes on November 26th.
2015-2016 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (25) – Tyler Wong Assists (48) – Brayden Burke
Points (59) – Brayden Burke
PIMS (72) – Andrew Nielsen Plus/Minus (+24) – Brayden Burke
Wins (16) – Stuart Skinner Shutouts (1) – Jayden Sittler & Stuart Skinner
Save % (.916) – Stuart Skinner Goals Against Average (2.84) – Jayden Sittler
WHO’S HOT:
– Andrew Nielsen has points in 8 of 9 games (2g-11a); 11 of 13 games (2g-15a)
– Giorgio Estephan has points in 7 straight games (9g-5a); 11 of 12 games (13g-8a)
– Brayden Burke has points 6 straight games (2g-7a); 11 of 13 games (5g-15a); 14 of 18 games (6g-22a)
– Justin Gutierrez has points 4 straight games (2g-2a); 12 of 13 games (8g-12a); 19 of 21 games (16g-16a)
– Tyler Wong has points in 3 straight games (1g-2a); 8 of 11 games (5g-8a); 11 of 17 games (9g-10a)
– Arvin Atwal has points in 3 straight games (1g-4a); 4 of 5 games (2g-4a); 8 of 10 games (2g-8a)
– Jordy Bellerive has points in 5 of 7 games (2g-6a)
– Egor Babenko has points 5 of 7 games (2g-3a); 15 of 19 games (9g-20a); 21 of 27 games (13g-24a)
– Barrett Sheen has points in 3 of 5 games (2g-1a)
LEAGUE LEADERS:
– Tyler Wong is tied 3rd in WHL Goals with 25 & is tied for 10th in WHL scoring with 46 points
– Tyler Wong tied for 3rd in WHL Power Play Goals with 8
– Brayden Burke is 1st in WHL assists with 48 & is 1st in WHL Power Play Assists with 21
– Brayden Burke is 3rd in WHL Scoring with 59 points
– Giorgio Estephan is tied for 5th in WHL Power Play Assists with 14 & tied for 9th in WHL Assists with 28
– Giorgio Estephan is tied for 5th in WHL Goals with 22 & tied for 6th in WHL Scoring with 51 points
– Ryley Lindgren is 1st in WHL Game Winning Goals with 7 & tied for 2nd in WHL Power Play Goals with 9
– Ryley Lindgren is tied for 8th in WHL Goals with 19
– Justin Gutierrez is tied for 7th in WHL Goals with 20 & is tied for 11th in WHL Scoring with 44 points
– Egor Babenko is tied for 7th in WHL Goals with 20 & is tied for 9th in WHL assist with 28
– Egor Babenko is tied for 2nd in WHL Rookie Goals with 20 & is 1st in WHL Rookie Points with 48
– Egor Babenko is tied for 6th in WHL Power Play Goals with 5 & tied for 2nd in WHL First Goals with 4
– Egor Babenko is tied for 8th in WHL scoring with 48 points
– Andrew Nielsen is tied for 4th in WHL Assists with 35 & is 1st in WHL Defenseman Scoring with 44 points
– Jayden Sittler is ranked 9th in WHL with a 2.84 GAA & 13th in WHL with a .906 SV%
– Stuart Skinner is ranked 11th in WHL with a 2.91 GAA & 5th in WHL with a .916 SV%
MILESTONE WATCH:
– Tyler Wong is 4 points from 150 career points – Kord Pankewicz is 14 games from 200 career game
– Arvin Atwal is 5 games from 200 career games – Brayden Burke is 7 points from 100 career points
NEWS & NOTES:
Top 10, Again: The Hurricanes again have cracked the CHL’s BMO Top 10 rankings for the fourth straight week as they were listed at #7 for Week 15, a one spot improvement over their #8 ranking from Week 14. The ‘Canes were also listed in Weeks 8, 12, 13, 14, and 15 and were named an Honourable Mention in the Week 6 edition of the Top 10.
Giorgio-so-good: Third year forward Giorgio Estephan has having a career year. The Buffalo Sabres draft pick has scored at least one goal in six of seven games having scored nine goals in that span. The Edmonton product has goals in nine of his last 12 games and is one goal shy of matching his career high he set from last season.
Closing in on 30: With 29 wins on the season, the Hurricanes are just one win away from cracking the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2008-2009. That was the last year the ‘Canes made the post-season. Over the last two years combined, the ‘Canes have collected just 32 victories. The Hurricanes are on pace for 51 victories this season; only once have they cracked 50 that was in 1989-1990 when they won 51.
2015 Success: In 73 games during the calendar year of 2015, the Hurricanes have posted an overall record of 37-33-2-1 accumulating a total of 77 points. The ‘Canes were 20-14-1-1 on home ice and 15-19-1-0 away from home during 2015. The Hurricanes are 29-12-0-0 in the 2015-2016 season.
Home Cookin’: The Hurricanes are in a stretch where they will play eight of ten games at the ENMAX Centre after playing nine games in nine different cities. The Hurricanes are 16-3-0-0 on home ice this season, the most home ice victories in the entire WHL.
BBG Line: The trio of Brayden Burke, Justin Gutierrez and Egor Babenko were place on a line together on November 26th. Since then, the three have combined 82 points (29g-53a) in that span helping the ‘Canes to a 15-3-0-0 record. Gutierrez has (15g-13a), Babenko (8g-18a) and Burke (6g-22a) since.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Andrew Nielsen, who was drafted in the third round (65th overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs, signed his first NHL contract in November inking an entry-level deal with Toronto. In 41 games this year, the Red Deer product has collected 44 points (9g-35a). He is first in WHL scoring by a d-man.
Impactful Import: Selected fifth overall in the 2015 CHL Import Draft, Egor Babenko has scored 48 points (20g-28a) in 41 games. He was ranked as a ‘C’ skater in the ‘Player to Watch List’ for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by NHL Central Scouting. Babenko is on pace to score 35 goals and 84 points. The last ‘Cane import to score 30+ goals was Tomas Kopecky who had (34g-42a) in 2001-2002.
Special Power Play: The Hurricanes power play has been on fire in their last 22 games. The ‘Canes PP is 28/83 in that span, a conversion rate of 33.7%. The ‘Canes PP is ranked first in the WHL with an overall.
