GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Hitmen In First of Home-and-Home
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open a home-and-home set against the Calgary Hitmen tonight at 7:00pm at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Hurricanes (33-23-3-3) enter having earned a 5-4 overtime win on Friday against the Regina Pats at the ENMAX Centre. Jett Jones, Miguel Marques, Tyson Zimmer and Joe Arntsen scored in regulation before Logan McCutcheon scored the overtime winner. Lethbridge enters with a 3-2-0-0 record in their last five games and are 14-14-1-2 on the road this season. The ‘Canes need one point to officially clinch a berth in the 2023 WHL Playoffs while sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Hitmen (26-27-5-3) enter after suffering a lopsided 9-0 loss on Saturday afternoon against the Red Deer Rebels. Calgary allowed four goals in the first period while surrendering five in the second in the defeat. The Hitmen enter tonight with a 3-6-1-0 record in their last ten games while having posted an 11-14-3-3 record at home this year. Calgary currently sits tied with Swift Current and Brandon in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tonight will be the first of three meetings in the next four games between the Hurricanes and Hitmen; Lethbridge has posted a 3-1-0-0 record in four-game against Calgary having won the last three head-to-head meetings. Tonight’s game can be watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge, on WHL Live or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-03-15 – LET at CGY
VS. HITMEN: Tonight will be the fifth of seven meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen. Lethbridge has posted a 3-1-0-0 record against Calgary so far this year, having won the last three meetings. Last season, the Hurricanes posted an impressive 7-1-0-0 record. Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 83-91-0-5 with six ties against the Hitmen while going 38-48-6-2 with two times in Calgary.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
December 17th/2022 – at LET (7-2 CGY)
January 15th/2023 – at CGY (4-1 LET)
February 15th/2023 – at LET (3-0 LET)
February 25th/2023 – at CGY (4-3 LET)
March 15th/2023 – at CGY
March 17th/2023 – at LET
March 22nd/2023 – at LET
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 1st/2021 – at Lethbridge (9-2 LET)
October 3rd/2021 – at Calgary (4-1 LET)
December 4th/2021 – at Calgary (5-4 OT LET)
December 8th/2021 – at Lethbridge (3-2 SO LET)
January 28th/2022 – at Lethbridge (3-2 OT LET)
February 25th/2022 – at Lethbridge (8-1 CGY)
April 9th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-1 LET)
April 17th/2022 – at Calgary (3-2 OT LET)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (21) – Logan Wormald
Assists (33) – Cole Shepard
Points (52) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (80) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+14) – Chase Pauls
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.925) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.38) – Bryan Thomson
WHO’S HOT:
– Joe Arntsen has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a); 3 of 4 games (1g-2a); 14 of 21 games (4g-12a)
– Jett Jones has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a); 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 30 of 50 games (16g-26a)
– Chase Pauls has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a)
– Tristan Zandee has points in 2 of 3 games (2a); 4 of 7 games (1g-4a); 6 of 10 games (2g-5a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 4 of 7 games (2g-2a); 21 of 34 games (17g-13a)
– Cole Shepard has points in 3 of 5 games (4a); 4 of 7 games (5a); 13 of 21 games (6g-12a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 3 of 5 games (4a); 4 of 7 games (5a); 8 of 18 games (1g-9a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 2 of 4 games (1g-3a); 5 of 11 games (1g-6a); 7 of 15 games (2g-7a)
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 2 of 4 games (2g-1a); 5 of 8 games (4g-2a); 6 of 13 games (6g-3a)
– Blake Swetlikoff has points in 3 of 7 games (3g-3a); 9 of 17 games (7g-8a); 18 of 30 games (12g-17a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Chase Pauls is 5 points away from 50 career points
– Nolan Bentham is 8 points away from 50 career points
– Joe Arntsen is 4 games away from 200 career games
– Joe Arntsen is 22 points away from 100 career points
– Logan Wormald is 20 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Zimmer is 10 games away from 150 career games
– Blake Swetlikoff is 17 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 6 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 11 games away from 200 career games
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 62: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 33-23-3-3 (72 points) on the season after 62 games. The ‘Canes are 19-9-1-2 at home while posting a record of 14-14-2-1 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 28-30-2-2 after 62 contests. Lethbridge went 5-5-0-1 in February and are 2-2-0-0 in March.
Magic Number: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes magic number to clinch a WHL post-season berth is just one point. The ‘Canes would need to get to 73-points to clinch a seventh straight playoff spot. Lethbridge currently sits fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
30+ Wins: Lethbridge earned their 30th victory of the season on Friday, February 17th against the Brandon Wheat Kings marking the seventh consecutive season (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have record 30-or-more victories in a year. The seven straight years in the longest stretch in Hurricanes history with 30+ wins – previous long was five years from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
20-Goal Guys: Logan Wormald, Tyson Laventure and Jett Jones have all reached the 20-goal mark this season; Wormald enters with a team-high 21 goals on the season. Cole Shepard has 19 goals while Tyson Zimmer sits with 17 on the year. Last season, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals.
Strong PK: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have allowed just 19 power play goals against in their last 30 games having killed 93-of-112 penalties taken in that span for a kill rate of 83.1%. The ‘Canes have not allowed a power play goal against in 17 of their last 30 outings. Lethbridge sits eighth in the WHL in penalty kill percentage this season while holding the second-best home PK in the league.
Fourth All-Time: Overage netminder Bryan Thomson sits tied for third all-time in victories in Hurricanes history with 56 career wins; Thomson is currently tied with Ryan Hoople for third all-time with 56 victories and just two wins shy of Logan Koopmans who sits with 58 wins – Stuart Skinner is the all-time leader with 88 victories. Thomson is also fifth all-time in games played with 112 appearances.
Rookie Tendy: Hurricanes netminder Harrison Meneghin enters tonight with a 19-12-2-2 record, sitting one win shy of becoming the 14th goalie in ‘Canes history to reach 20-wins in a season – he would become just the fourth rookie goaltender to reach that mark joining Logan Koopmans, Juha Metsola and Carl Tetachuk who previously accomplished the feat. Meneghin enters tonight 17-8-2-2 record in his last 29 starts.
Faceoff King: Jett Jones enters tonight as the WHL leader in faceoffs taken this season with 1,481 draws taken, averaging 24.0 draws per game. Jones has won 20+ faceoffs in a game four times this season, becoming the first Hurricanes centre-man to accomplish that feat on four occasions since the WHL began tracking faceoffs in 2017, surpassing Jake Leschyshyn and Giorgio Estephan – who both did it twice.
