Hurricanes Sneak By Tigers 7-6

The Tigers headed to Lethbridge on Wednesday for the first meeting against their Highway 3 rivals this season. It’s also the first time that Harrison Meneghin and Shane Smith have faced off against their old teams since they were traded for each other on October 5th.

The scorekeepers were busy right off the bat in this game. The Tigers struck first while on an early power play. 4:34 into the first, Jonas Woo let a seeing eye wrister go from the blue line that went bar down and in for his third of the season. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and Kadon McCann picked up the helpers on the opening goal. The Hurricanes would reply with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead. Logan McCutcheon evened up the game a few minutes later. He let a shot go from the point that redirected off a player and just snuck passed the goaltender’s skate for his third of the campaign. Midway through the period, the Hurricanes’ power play gave them their first lead of the game. Kooper Gizowski found Leo Braillard camped out at the side of the net with a backdoor pass that he was able to tap in for his seventh. Lethbridge’s power play had another chance late in the period but this time it would be the Tigers lighting the lamp with a shorthanded marker to tie the game. Andrew Basha came into the offensive zone on a one on one. He cut towards the slot and got a quick wrister off that beat the goalie top corner on the glove side for his seventh. The Tigers would strike one more time before the end of the period to take a lead into the first intermission. With only 19 seconds remaining, Oasiz Wiesblatt found Gavin McKenna at the side of the net where he got off a sharp angle backhand shot that beat the goalie on the short side. The go ahead goal was his 10th of the season.

The offences didn’t take their feet off the pedals in the second period. Lethbridge would tie things up only 2:25 into the middle frame. Logan Wormald found Brayden Edwards coming up quickly in the slot. He let a quick wrister go from in front that went off the crossbar and in for this seventh. The Tigers would retake the lead less than a minute later while on the power play. Bryce Pickford let a wrister go from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat the goalie glove side. McKenna and Wiesblatt picked up the assists on Pickford’s sixth of the season. The Tigers would add to their lead a couple of minutes later when Wiesblatt tipped McKenna’s shot over the goalie’s glove. Matt Paranych also picked up an assist on Wiesblatt’s sixth of the season. Hunter St. Martin would continue the Tigers’ run and netted his team leading 14th of the season. While shorthanded, St. Martin stole the puck and drove toward the net with a pair of defenders trailing. He was able to cut across the net and beat the goalie with a wrister to give the Tigers a 6-3 lead. The Hurricanes ended the Tigers’ run and cut the lead to 6-4 with a power play goal before the midway point of the period. Will Sharpe feed the puck to Kash Andresen in the slot where he let go a one-time for his fourth of the season. Lethbridge would add one more before the end of the period to make it a one goal game. The puck came out to the left side of the net off a shot and Wormald was there to put the puck in past the diving goaltender for his ninth of the season.

Lethbridge would tie the game up at six goals apiece at 6:29 of the third period. Former Tiger Shane Smith drove towards the net but couldn’t beat the defence. Unfortunately, the puck came loose and Braillard was there to grab it and take a big slap that ended up in the top corner for his second of the game. The Hurricanes would retake the lead late in the third on Cameron Norrie’s second of the season. Noah Chadwick’s pass deflected to the side of the net where Landen Ward quickly passed it out front to Norrie for the tap in. The Tigers continued to press hard for the tying goal and outshot the Hurricanes 12-5 in the final frame but unfortunately the game would end in a 7-6 victory for the Hurricanes .

Harrison Meneghin got the start in net for the Tigers. He had a bit of an off night against his former team allowing seven goals on 25 shots. Brady Smith started in net for the Hurricanes but was pulled midway through the game after allowing five goals on 16 shots. Koen Cleaver came on in relief and saved all but one of the 18 shots he faced to pick up the win.

Special Teams:

• PP: 2/4 – 50%
• PK: 4/7 – 57.1%

Stringam Law Three Stars:

1. Cameron Norrie – Lethbridge
2. Logan McCutcheon – Lethbridge
3. Gavin McKenna – Medicine Hat

Supplement King Hardest Working Player – Hunter St. Martin

The Tigers are back in action Friday night when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings. Game time is 7:00 PM (MT) and tickets are available at tixx.ca. You can also listen live on Wild 94.5 FM or watch on watch.chl.ca.