Hurricanes Fall 5-1 in Winnipeg
Winnipeg, MB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued a five-game road trip on Wednesday with a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg ICE at the Wayne Fleming Arena.
It was a good start for the Hurricanes as they traded chances with the ICE in the early going. Lethbridge had a great opportunity on a partial two-on-one as Justin Hall ripped one off the chest of Winnipeg netminder Gage Alexander and Trevor Thurston couldn’t bury the rebound as the game stayed scoreless. Just moments later, the ICE jumped out to the lead as Zach Benson scored his ninth of the season on a back-door feed from Ben Zloty to make it 1-0 Winnipeg. The ICE continued to press is the back-half of the period but couldn’t solve Bryan Thomson who stopped 10 of 11 Winnipeg shots in the first period; Lethbridge had five shots in the first frame.
Winnipeg jumped on the Hurricanes right away at the start of the second period as just 17-seconds in while four-on-four, the ICE capitalized on a two-on-one when Jakin Smallwood slipped one by Thomson to make it a 2-0 lead. Just over four minutes later, the ICE added to their lead with a power play goal when Connor McClennon ripped home his WHL-leading 12th goal of the season to make it 3-0. Winnipeg added a second power play goal at the 10:57 mark as Matthew Savoie beat Thomson over the blocker to make it 4-0 after forty minutes of play. The ICE outshot the Hurricanes 15-8 in the middle frame.
In the third period, the Hurricanes broke the shutout bid for Alexander as Yegor Klavdiev ripped home his team-leading fifth goal of the season just 1:17 into the period; Jett Jones earned the lone assist on the goal to make it 4-1. Lethbridge was assessed a four-minute power play but failed to capitalize with the extra man as half way through the man advantage their were assessed a penalty. The ‘Canes had more great looks on another power play but could not beat Alexander who stood tall in the ICE net. Lethbridge continued to press late in the game and pulled the goaltender but Winnipeg would find an empty-net goal when McClennon banged home his second of the night to make it a 5-1 final.
Final shots favoured the ICE 34-28 in the contest. Lethbridge went 0/3 on the power play while Winnipeg was 2/4 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ICE – #93 Matthew Savoie (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) ICE – #94 Connor McClennon (2 goals, 1 assist)
3) ICE – #7 Carson Lambos (1 assist)
The defeat dropped the Hurricanes overall record to 5-8-0-0 on the season as they also fell to 1-5-0-0 away from home. The ‘Canes have now lost five straight road games and five straight overall. Lethbridge is now 0-2-0-0 on their five-game trip.
The Hurricanes visit the Brandon Wheat Kings in the lone Remembrance Day game in the WHL on Thursday at 1:30pm MT. The ‘Canes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Friday, November 19th when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers. Tickets for the game can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
