Red Storm
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes were wearing their brand new red third jerseys on Wednesday as a tip of the hat to the Armed Forces and walked away showing off some firepower of their own as they tallied a 5-4 OT win over the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday night. The Hitmen were looking to end their streak – losers of the previous nine games while the Canes were looking to extend their current winning streak to four. Lethbridge jumped out to the early lead as they continued to get production on their resurgent power play as Mark Reners drove the net and backhand tallied his third of the season just two minutes into the first. Calgary would respond with a power play goal of their own before newcomer Alex Kuvaev was at it again, grinding it out in front of the net and netting his team leading 7th goal of the season with 7 minutes left in the period. The Canes wouldn’t stop there as Graham Hood tipped home another Canes power play goal with just 10 seconds left in the opening frame to give Lethbridge a 3-1 lead.
Fast forward to the second where Kuvaev netted his second of the night off a rebound for his 8th on the season just a minute into the period to make it a 4-1 lead. But the Hitmen, playing with the type of desperation that only comes from a team trying to break a losing streak, came roaring back with three unanswered goals. The game tying goal coming on an inopportune penalty by the Canes in the middle of the third.
Finally, after drawing a penalty in the overtime period the Canes were able to set up in the Calgary zone as Mitch Maxwell brought down the house with shot that beat the Calgary netminder and gave the Canes a 5-4 OT win to extend their streak to four. The goal was also the Canes fifth of th night on a Wednesday game meaning that everyone in attendence won a free taco at the Westdside Taco Bell on Thursday. The Hurricanes power play posted a very impressive 3 for 7 making the Canes once struggling man advantage 7 for 15 in their past three games. Michael Sofillas, the games first star finished the night with three points (3A) along with Hood (1G,2A) while Kuvaev notched the pair of goals on the night. The win elevates the Hurricanes record to 10-6-0-3 go enough for fourth place in the WHL Eastern Conference standings; just three points shy of the third place Kootenay Ice.
The Canes will be on the road tomorrow as they prepare for a Friday night match up with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the always tough to play in Keystone Centre. Game time is set for 6:30 PM MST from Brandon– be sure to tune into the official radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes Classic Hits CJOC 94.1FM as Pat Siedlecki calls all your Hurricanes action. For scoring summaries and recaps check back to lethbridgehurricanes.com and be sure to follow the team headlines on twitter @WHLHurricanes and the Canes newest media partner @canescast for game day play by play and analysis.
Scoring Summary
Calgary Hitmen 4 at Lethbridge Hurricanes 5 (OT) – Status: Final OT
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, AB
Calgary 1 1 2 0 – 4
Lethbridge 3 1 0 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Lethbridge, Reners 3 (Tot, Berglund), 1:57 (PP). 2, Calgary, Bubnick 5 (Kirsch, Wilson), 12:41 (PP). 3, Lethbridge, Kuvaev 7 (Sofillas, Hood), 13:17. 4, Lethbridge, Hood 6 (Johnston, Sofillas), 19:50 (PP). Penalties-Berg Cal (cross checking), 1:55; Braes Let (kneeing), 5:12; Johnston Let (cross checking), 11:12; Kosterman Cal (hooking), 18:23.
2nd Period-5, Lethbridge, Kuvaev 8 (Hood, Sofillas), 0:57. 6, Calgary, Lawrence 1 (Wilson, Reinbolt), 1:54. Penalties-Fisenko Cal (holding), 9:14; Sylvester Cal (high sticking), 10:29; Sofillas Let (hooking), 11:45; Berg Cal (delay of game), 16:29.
3rd Period-7, Calgary, Kirsch 9 (Cheek, Wilson), 2:05. 8, Calgary, Foucault 4 (MacKenzie, Fisenko), 7:44 (PP). Penalties-Machacek Let (major-fighting, game misconduct), 3:15; Maxwell Let (high sticking), 7:08; Lawrence Cal (tripping), 12:19; Reddington Let (delay of game), 16:02.
OT Period-9, Lethbridge, Maxwell 6 (Oslanski, Reddington), 1:20 (PP). Penalties-Foucault Cal (high sticking), 0:29.
Shots on Goal-Calgary 7-4-13-0-24. Lethbridge 13-11-7-1-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 2 / 6; Lethbridge 3 / 7.
Goalies-Calgary, Snider 3-9-1-0 (32 shots-27 saves). Lethbridge, Anderson 7-4-0-3 (24 shots-20 saves).
A-3,169
Referees-Dan Cowley (76), Greg Sarauer (68).
Linesmen-Sean Donnelly (109), Darren Holeha (47).
