Hurricanes Dump Ice 7-2
Cranbrook, BC – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to the win column after defeating the Kootenay Ice 7-2 on Tuesday night.
Ryan Vandervlis led the charge offensively with a goal and two assists while Jordy Bellerive struck twice in the win. Three other Hurricanes had multi point efforts while Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for his 25th victory of the season.
Despite a good start to the game for the ‘Canes, it was the Ice that struck first in the game. At the 5:28 mark of the first period Ice captain Tanner Lishchynsky had a Max Paterson shot deflect to him in the high slot and Lishchynsky made no mistake beating Skinner over the blocker to make it 1-0 Kootenay. The Hurricanes continued to play well in the period and eventually tied the game as Cory Millette tipped home his 32nd goal of the season at the 14:55 mark to tie the at 1-1 – Vandervlis and Giorgio Estephan picked up the assists. With just 1:35 left in the period, Estephan knocked down a cross-ice pass at the Kootenay line, burst in and beat Wyatt Hoflin low to the blocker for his 30th goal of the season to give the ‘Canes a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes of play. Hurricanes outshot the Ice 13-9 in the first period.
The Hurricanes built on their lead in the second period scoring a pair of goals. At the 4:41 mark Bellerive moved in on a shorthanded two-on-one and snapped home his ninth of the season and first of two in the game to make it 3-1 – Kord Pankewicz drew the lone assist on the goal. Hurricanes dominated the second period territorially but couldn’t solve Hoflin until the final second of the period. On another two-on-one Brayden Burke fed a pass across to Vandervlis and with 0.4 seconds left on the clock Vandervlis made it 4-1 ‘Canes at the second intermission. The Hurricanes led the shot department 17-11 in the middle frame.
The ‘Canes added three more goals in the third period but first it was the Ice that cut the lead to 4-2 as Paterson netted his fifth of the season from Austin Gray at the 11:20 mark. However, less then a minute later Bellerive slipped one home under the legs of Hoflin to restore the Hurricanes three goal lead – Drayton Thunder Chief and Ben Duperreault picked up the assists on the goal. Exactly one minute later, Arvin Atwal let a point shot go that beat Hoflin to make it 6-2. Just under three minute later, Tyler Wong got in on the action tapping home his team-leading 38th goal of the season to round out the scoring helping the Hurricanes to a 7-2 victory.
The Hurricanes outshot the Ice 13-6 in the third period and 43-26 on the night. Lethbridge went 0/3 on the power play while Kootenay was 0/4.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #21 Ryan Vandervlis – (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) ‘Canes – #15 Jordy Bellerive – (2 goals, including the game winner)
3) ICE – #24 Max Paterson – (1 goal, 1 assist)
The Hurricanes have now won four of their last five games scoring a whopping 32 goals in that span.
The Hurricanes improve to 44-21-1-1 on the season and finish the season series 6-1-0-0 against the Ice. ‘Canes return home on Friday to host the Red Deer Rebels on Fan Appreciation Night at 7:00pm.