Canes' Win 3rd in a Row....Saskatoon Tonight

Chalk up another 2 points for the Hurricanes in the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Lethbridge pulled out a 4-2 victory on home-ice last night versus Swift Current. It turned out to be a fairly entertaining game. The Canes' special teams was clearly the difference scoring 3 times on the power play and once more short-handed. Lethbridge opened the scoring early on a goal by Carter Ashton. The Bronocs followed that up with a pair and had the lead 2-1 after one. The Hurricanes actually outshot Swift Current 9-0 at one point, less that 4 minutes into the opening period. After that, the Canes' took over in the goal department scoring once in the 2nd to tie it up and then added two more in the 3rd to win it 4-2. Other goal scorers for the Hurricanes included Dwight King, Austin Fyten, and Drew Hoff. The Hurricanes have now won 3 straight and have points in their past 4 games. That win put the Canes' into 6th place in the Eastern Conference, just two points back of the Broncos and 5 behind rival Medicine Hat.

Lethbridge is playing much better hockey in the past week. The Power play has been a huge reason for the Hurricanes renewed success. They've scored 2 or more power play goals in each of the past 4 games. With the addition of Kyle Beach and now Zach Boychuk back, it gives the Canes' a whole new dynamic on the man advantage. They're moving the puck around with more authority and confidence. Maybe more so than we've seen all season. Boychuk played his first game back last night after being away for a month at the world juniors. It looked like maybe his ankle isn't 100% yet, but like Assistant Coach Matt Kabayama said on our post-game show last night, even a Zach Boychuk not 100% is still a factor in a hockey game.

Tonight the Canes' play Saskatoon for the 3rd time this season and 2nd in Lethbridge. The Blades continue to roll. They blanked the Tigers 5-0 in Medicine Hat last night and are 6-2-1-1 in their past 10 games. The Blades won the last meeting, 3-0 in Saskatoon back on New Year's Day. The two teams will play once more in Saskatoon near the end of the regular season in March. The Blades will no doubt see a different looking Lethbridge team than back on the 1st of the month. Tonight's game is also the 4th in 5 days for the Canes'. Carter Bancks and Eric Mestery both sat last night's game out with undisclosed injuries. They're both day-to-day.

Next Week, Lethbridge will host Medicine Hat Wednesday, Prince George pays a visit Friday and then next Saturday it's off for a short trip to Red Deer.

Tonight's game versus Saskatoon is a 7pm start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.