Hurricanes Upset Blades in Saskatoon

ON THE BUS BACK TO LETHBRIDGE - The Hurricanes, backed by some excellent goaltending and some timely scoring for the 4th line, upset the first place Blades 3-1 last night at the Credit Union Centre.

Saskatoon came out gunning in their first game at home in 2010, but some very impressive goaltending by Brandon Anderson kept the 3rd meeting of the season between the two clubs close. It was scoreless after 20 minutes. Anderson faced a number of tough shots in the first as the Blades out shot the Canes' 13-4. His best save came on Blades defenceman Jiri Niemi when he fired out his pad to stop Niemi on great deek. The Hurricanes played the game with 5 defenceman as Reid Jackson was the latest blueliner to get injured.

In the second, the Blades continued keeping the shots coming on Brandon Anderson, but he again stood tall in goal stopping all 14 shots he faced in that period. Despite being outplayed for the most part, the Canes' scored first in this one. Ryon Moser notched his 3rd of the season after a miscue from Saskatoon goaltender Adam Morrison. He went to cover the puck, when it went off his stick, then off the skate and stick of Moser and in. Video replay requested a review of the goal and after about 8 minutes of looking at it, the goal stood. A few minutes after that, the same young line of Tarnasky, Tot, and Moser would strike again. Moser would get his second of the night after banking a backhander off a Blades defenceman and off Morrison and in. At that time, the Hurricanes were being out shot 21-8. That would end Morrison's night in goal. He was pulled in favour of Steven Stanford. The Canes' had a two man advantage for more than 2 minutes at the end of the second, but were unable to get the power play set up. Lethbridge lead 2-0 after 40 minutes, but were being out shot 27-12.

In the third, the Blades quickly got back into the game with a goal early to cut the lead in half. Brandon Anderson though continued to play lights out for the rest of the game as the Blades tried everything to tie it up. The Hurricanes would again get a two man advantage in the 3rd and this time they would score as Cam Braes knocked home a big goal to put the Canes' up 3-1 and that's the way it would end. A big victory for the Canes'. A pretty gritty victory too lead offensively by the 4th line and Brandon Anderson in goal. The final shots in this game were 37-19 Saskatoon. Anderson was the first star, Moser the second, and the Blades Stefan Elliot the 3rd.

Give the Hurricanes some credit here. They managed to beat the top team in the WHL with an injury riddled line-up. The Canes' dressed 5 defenceman, but only played 4. Brandyn Huilt only saw spot duty for the most part. For the second time in less than a week, the Hurricanes managed wins against two of the best teams in the league, Saskatoon and Calgary. Goaltending was the key in both victories.

Trade Talk

It appears Head Coach/GM Rich Preston will indeed be jumping into that trade pool before this afternoon's deadline. I put the question one last time to him in our CJOC pre-game show last night and with a chuckle he said, "I think we will be active Pat. We have a lot of games over the next couple of months and we need some depth, especially on the back end."

I guess you can take it for what it's worth. Again, it looks like he will be adding to the line-up. He never said anything about dealing away any current roster players, but I suppose at the trade deadline anything can happen. Put it this way, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Preston deals away as well as acquiring players over the next few hours. We'll have to wait and see just how things will shake down. It seems like a lot of teams are waiting to see which club is going to make the first move before trading ends this afternoon.

Injuries Mounting

The Hurricanes were hit with another injury after the Prince Albert game Friday. The Canes' lost another defenceman as Reid Jackson missed last night's game in Saskatoon. He got his bell rung pretty good in P.A. and the Hurricanes decided it was best he sit Saturday's game out. Lethbridge played the game with only 5 defencemen with Sbisa, Ryckman, Reddington, and now Jackson all out with injuries.

Next Up

The Hurricanes are off now until Wednesday when they play the Broncos in Swift Current. Game time will be 6:30 (MT).

Thanks,
Pat