Hurricanes vs. Saskatoon Blades Game Day Preview

This is the 3rd of 4 meetings between the Hurricanes and Saskatoon Blades this season with the teams splitting the two games thus far. The Canes enter the game 11^th in the East Conference with 43 points and an overall record of 21-34-0-1. The Hurricanes have been a much better team at home as well this season with a record of 13-and-15, although they have lost 3 straight at the ENMAX Centre including a 5-3 setback to Moose Jaw Wednesday night.  In that loss, Captain Brody Sutter scored a pair of goals while rookie Adam Henry chipped in 3 assists. As for the Blades – they are 4^th in the East and are 7-3 in their past 10 games. Saskatoon currently sits with 33 wins and 67 points on the season and they’re led by Goalie Andrey Makarov (.914 save percentage) who has 22 wins in his 37 games played.

In the 2010-2011 season, the teams faced each other four times with the Blades sweeping the series. On October 16th, Lethbridge outshot Saskatoon 37-34 but the Blades won 4-0. A week later, the Blades won 4-3 in a shootout, and then on November 20th Saskatoon was a 5-3 winner. In their final matchup, the Blades won in another shutout 5-0.

2011-2012 SEASON SERIES:  1-1 tie

November 5^th in Saskatoon:  Lethbridge – 3  Saskatoon – 7

December 3^rd in Lethbridge:  Lethbridge – 6  Saskatoon – 3

 

Scoring:  Lethbridge – 9  Saskatoon 10

Shots on Goal:  Lethbridge – 69  Saskatoon – 90

Powerplay:  Lethbridge – 2/8  Saskatoon 2/9

 

HOT HAND:

2 game point streak: Sam McKechnie (2G)

Last 5 games: Nick Buonassisi (2G, 2A), Macoy Erkamps (3A)

Last 10 games: Brody Sutter (6G, 5A), Phil Tot (5G, 5A), Brady Ramsay (2G, 4A), Dan Johnston (7A)

 

BY THE NUMBERS:

Brody Sutter leads the team in points (48), goals (24), PPG (11)

Nick Buonassisi, Brody Sutter lead the team in assists (24) each

Jamal Watson leads the team with a +3 plus/minus rating in 53 games

Graham Hood leads the team with 104 PIM’s

 

Top Scorers – Lethbridge:

Brody Sutter:  24G, 24A – 48 points

Nick Buonassisi:  14G, 24A – 38 points

Phil Tot:  11G, 20A – 31 points

Brady Ramsay:  18G, 12A – 30 points

 

Top Scorers – Saskatoon:

Matej Stransky:  29G, 27A – 56 points

Michael Burns:  22G, 29A – 51 points

Lukas Sutter:  23G, 26A – 49 points

Jake Trask:  17G, 30A – 47 points

DID YOU KNOW?:

(D) Landon Oslanski is 9 games shy of 200 for his WHL career

(D) Dan Johnston is 7 games shy of 200 for his WHL career

 Adam Henry had his first 3 point night (Feb. 8^th) of his WHL career (3A)

 Brody Sutter had his first 4 point night (Jan. 20^th) of his WHL career with 2 goals and 2 assists

 Phil Tot surpassed his 3 pt. night (Dec. 16th) with a 5 point effort on January 17th (2G, 3A)

 (G) Damien Ketlo surpassed 4,000 saves for his WHL career. Ketlo entered Friday’s game in Brandon 9 saves shy of the milestone and he surpassed it in the 1^st period (with 12 saves.) Ketlo ended the night with 41 saves.

A number of Hurricanes have hit milestones this season hitting the 200 career game mark (Graham Hood, Brody Sutter), the 100 career game mark (Tyler Kizuik, Brady Ramsay, Russ Maxwell), and the 100th career point mark Brody Sutter, Nick Buonassisi)

Rookie Sam McKechnie and 2^nd year Forward Russ Maxwell are the only Hurricanes players to have played all 56 games this season.