A late goal in overtime gave the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes last night at the Enmax Centre.
It turned out to be a pretty entertaining finish to a game that kind of started out as a yawner to be honest. There wasn't too much emotion going on in the first 20 minutes or so, but things started to pick up half way through the second en route to what was a pretty exciting finish.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring with the only goal in the first period, when Austin Fyten put the puck passed Ice goaltender Todd Mathews. The Canes' played fairly well in the opening frame. Both teams got into some penalty trouble, but neither team was able to score with the man advantage in the first. The game though started to chance in the second.
Goaltender Brandon Anderson kept the Hurricanes in the game in the second. He was bombarded with shots in that period. In fact, the Ice out shot the Canes' 21-6 in the second alone. Kootenay did manage to score twice and take a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes, including the go-ahead marker short-handed.
In the third, the Canes' would get that one back with a short-handed goal of their own. Mitch Maxwell notched his team leading 13th goal early in the final frame to even the score at two. A great burst of speed at centre, Maxwell cut in and beat Mathews to tie the game. That goal sent the game into overtime. The Canes' had some good chances in the extra period, but Ice forward Steele Boomer stick-checked Hurricanes defenceman Brennan Yadlowski with 26 seconds left in O.T., fed the puck across to Matt Fraser and just like that the game is over and the Ice leave Lethbridge with a 3-2 win and a big extra point in the standings. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to 8-13-3-0 on the season. The Ice improve to 10-12-1-0.
The Canes' were outplayed last night for the better part of the game, but really started to come on strong in the last 10 minutes of the 3rd. I thought the game was won and lost in the second. Kootenay made some good adjustments after the first and came out strong in that second period and it paid off with two goals, but really the difference was clearly Brandon Anderson in the Hurricanes goal. If it wasn't for him, this game never gets to overtime. He was awarded the game's first star and no question very deserving. In our post-game show last night, Associate Coach Matt Kabayama said the Canes' took way too many penalties and need to cut down on the trips to the penalty box. He says the players on the P.K. lately are getting burned out. Both teams struggled though with the power play. Lethbridge was 0 for 6 and Kootenay went 0 for 8.
I think both teams were frustrated last night with the officiating at times. I very seldom ever take issue with the refs, but there were certainly some suspect calls against both teams that had Rich Preston and Mark Holick shaking their heads on the two benches, especially in the first period. In the end though, both teams spent too much time in the box and I think both coaches would agree would agree with that.
Next Up
A rather light stretch for the Hurricanes over the next two weeks after coming off a very busy week. Only one game between now and next Friday. The Prince Albert Raiders will pay a visit to the Enmax Centre on Wednesday (7pm). Then it'll be 9 days off between games for the Hurricanes as they won't play again until they travel to Saskatoon to take on the first place Blades on November 27th. As I've said earlier the time off between games may be coming at a good time for the Hurricanes. Cam Braes has missed the last two games with a back problem and goaltender Linden Rowat has been out two weeks nursing a sore ankle. Austin Fyten tok a hard hit last night and left the game briefly, but came back shortly after. Hopefully the next two weeks will give those three players and any others a chance to heal the wounds.
Hurricanes This Week
Our weekly Hurricanes hockey talk show is back on the air tonight at 6pm on CJOC. Canes' Head Coach/GM Rich Preston will be on the program for the first 40 minutes. He'll take your calls and e-mails. After that, we'll head to Prince Albert and speak with Drew Wilson, the radio voice of the Raiders to set up the Lethbridge-P.A. game Wednesday night. Our studio phone number is 403-388-4646 if you would like to ask Coach Preston a question or you can send an e-mail to hurricanes@pttwireless.ca.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
good recap, thanks. Our play by play guy can't leave decent enough recaps, I'm glad others do.
ReplyDeleteTwo tough-tough opponents this weekend on Friday and Saturday, and unfortunately, not enough left in the Canes' tank on night 3 when we met the 'weakest' of the three. 1 of 6 points... ouch.
ReplyDeleteI felt very bad for Yads for the way the Koot-ICE game ended. Definitely the victim of wrong place, wrong time. He played a VERY strong game otherwise, I thought.
I still don't think that there is anything wrong or anything major missing with the current Canes' team.
It would be great to see Mestery play tougher, but that seems like it is never going to happen. With the large number of minutes he is called on to play by the coaches, I suppose that it is an amazing accomplishment that he is only -11 (Compare with other D-men Sbisa +1, Yadlowski +2, Oslanski +4, Ryckman -1, Jackson -3, Reddington -7)... Next time you feel the need to bench somebody for playing lousy Preston, make it Mestery, not Ryckman!!!!!!
I would REALLY like to see this team roll 4 lines for the ENTIRE GAME this coming Wednesday night against Prince Albert. With the amount of ice time Tot, Reners, Moser, & Tarnasky are getting, you may as well leave them in the stands to keep stats... What a waste of talent and energy!
As much as I like to watch Ashton, Bancks, and Maxwell, there is NO WAY that a team can expect to play 3 guys as much as we did this weekend on 3 consecutive nights with the expectation of success; especially considering the amount of penalty kill time these same 3 guys saw. - My 2cents. Richie.
You nailed it, Richie. Time to get these young guys some ice time!
ReplyDeleteI think we are at a point in the season where we can realistically look to the future. We need to get the young players experience and build something. This is not a horrible team we are talking about here. They just are not a team that will have any impact if we make the playoffs. If we sneak into the 8 seed it will be a quick 1 and done. I am not saying make trades now. We just need to see more ice time from the 2-4 lines. Hate to say it but Carter Banks and Luca Sbisa will do nothing for this team next year if they remain on the roster. If our blue chip players are still on the roster at the end of the season just so we can make a fruitless playoff push that would be quite sad for the fans. We have rightfully been buyers in the recent past. Now it is time to look in the mirror and realize that you are what you are. We can't lie to ourselves thinking that this team is better than it is because we hang around with Calgary, Brandon and Saskatoon. That is false hope. If we were to meet these teams in the playoffs it would be a quick 4 games. Also do you think that those teams really get up to play the Canes this year. I can assure you that when Brandon visits Calgary they play different than when they play in Lethbridge. I'm really not trying to be too negative. I'm just a fan who does not want to see our assets wasted because we treat the canes like the proud grandparent of a unathletic kid. You support them but you have to realize the limitations through the rose colored glasses. This team will be forever limited if we keep up with the "they're getting better" mantra. Of course they are. We started off 0-6. You can't get worse. Rational moves must be made before the deadline to ensure the cupboard is stocked come next fall. Luca was a gift and should be cashed in. If he remains on the roster ofter the deadline I give up. Season tickets are a lot of money. I just don't want to end up like leafs fans renewing tickets when the organization has no motivation or will to make sacrifices to improve. This is an improving team but in no way are they a factor this season.
ReplyDeletebang on, that is the best way i have ever heard it put and sums up exactly how i feel..if preston is seriously planning to hold onto luca and rowat and bancks to try and make some sad statement on being competitive every year then it time to move on...ive had season ticket since 1990 and have sat through some HORRIBLE years of hockey with maxwell and a few other gm's,but i guess there comes a time when you have to say enough is enough......that being said i'm still hope'n preston is a smart crafty old fox that will not come out and say these players are for sale for the simple reason of raising their value, why not make the teams think they will have to pry talent away from the canes instead of saying they are giving them away for free......also sbisa will more than likely play at the would jrs and olympics so you can say goodbye to him for mor than a few weeks for sure after the new year.....that alone will kill any chance of a playoff birth for the canes.......... i have faith in the man and his crew.....
ReplyDeleteYou are all correct in your assesment of what needs to happen with this club and its future. I think that Preston is that crafty fox and will make the right moves at the right time. Sbisa, Rowat, Bancks, Mestery and maybe Ashton (but we could have him back as a 19yr old) will be dealt prior to the trading deadline and maybe before the Christmas break. I would suggest that you will see first or second round draft picks and good 17-18 year olds in return. I do not believe that Preston will hang on to the above mentioned players in order for a run at a playoff spot. He will deal for the future.
ReplyDeleteRJ