6 Wins in a Row...Medicine Hat & Canes' Tonight

The Lethbridge Hurricanes have quickly got themselves back into the Eastern Conference race with their 6th consecutive win Saturday night in Edmonton. The Canes' played a strong first two periods and had a 3-0 lead to show for their efforts. In the 3rd though, the Oil Kings stormed back to make things interesting, pumping 22 shots at Hurricanes rookie goaltender Michael Tadjdeh and getting 3 goals of their own, but Lethbridge managed to score two more and win the game 5-3. Tadjdeh turned out to be the difference in that game facing 38 shots overall earning his 4 straight win of the season and first WHL victory on the road. The Canes' maybe took the pedal off the gas in the 3rd letting Edmonton back into that game. They can't do that against teams like the Tigers. Tonight Lethbridge will need a strong performance against a divisional rival and one of the teams they're chasing down in the standings.

The Tigers have won the 3 of the previous 4 meetings between these two teams. The only Hurricanes win came in overtime on September 26th in Lethbridge when the Canes' blanked the Tigers 1-0. Also, the only blemish the Hurricanes have in their past 9 games was a 2-1 loss to the Tigers a few weeks ago. I'm sure Lethbridge will be looking for a bit of revenge this evening. As for the standings, The Hurricanes trail Medicine Hat by 6-points and also have two games in hand on the Tigers. This is a key game tonight for Lethbridge. The Hurricanes can cut that lead down to 4 points with a victory as well as keep their winning streak alive. For the Canes' these are the games where most of the ground is made up in the standings. Beating the teams they're chasing will go along way to moving this team up.

It's a busy week and half before the Christmas break for this Lethbridge team. After tonight's game in the Hat, Kamloops is next up tomorrow as they visit the Enmax Centre. Moose Jaw pays a visit on Friday, then Sunday it's off to Edmonton for a 2pm start against the Oil Kings, next Tuesday the Hurricanes are in Regina and Wednesday December 17th the Canes' play in Brandon. That'll be it for 10 days as the players all head home for the Christmas break. Play resumes December 27th when the Hurricanes host the Kootenay Ice. Before then though, Lethbridge has a great opportunity to establish itself amongst the top teams in the East. An important week and a half of hockey for the Hurricanes no doubt!

Tonight's game from Medicine Hat is a 7 o'clock start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.