Canes' Lose 4-1 in Edmonton

EDMONTON - Two goals in the second period helped Edmonton to a 4-1 victory of the Hurricanes last night. This Was Edmonton's first win against Lethbridge in five tries this season.

A pretty good goaltending display in the first period at Rexall Place. Edmonton opened the scoring just two minutes in when Michel St. Croix beat Brandon Anderson on a rebound to put the home side up 1-0. After that the two goalies stole the show. Anderson and Cam Lanigan were great between the pipes for their respective teams. Anderson came up with about three huge saves and so did Lanigan. Austin Fyten was robbed twice and Mark Reners had a great chance stolen by Lanigan. The Canes' out shot the Oil Kings 12-10 after 20 minutes, but still trailed by a goal heading into the dressing room.

In the second, the Hurricanes tied the game early on a goal by Austin Fyten. The Canes' managed to score on an Edmonton turnover. From that point on though, things turned very chippy. There were a number of fights and penalties between the two teams. Edmonton though would regain the lead on kind of a fluky goal credited to Cam Abney. It appeared the Hurricanes actually scored on themselves when they tried to clear the puck from in front of the goal. Cam Abney got credit for the goal to put Edmonton ahead 2-1. A couple of minutes later the Oil Kings went up by a pair when St. Croix potted his second of the night. It was part of a 23 shot second period for Edmonton as the Oil Kings bombarded Brandon Anderson with shots. Edmonton held the edge in shots after 40 minutes 33-25.

In third, the Oil Kings put the nail in the coffin with a power play goal mid-way through the third by Sebastian Svendson. The Canes' couldn't get any offence going in the final period would lose this one 4-1. The Canes' have just two wins in their past 18 games and ironically both of those victories were against Edmonton. Lethbridge went 0/4 on the power play while Edmonton went 1/3. With the loss the Hurricanes are officially eliminated from the post-season. Mathematically, they no longer have a chance at making the playoffs.

Bancks Injury Update

Hurricanes Captain Carter Bancks did not play last night in Edmonton. He was injured Wednesday late in the first period against Swift Current when he blocked a shot off his forearm. He went to the hospital in Lethbridge. According to Rich Preston on our pre-game show last night, it appears the injury is a deep bone bruise. The good thing for Bancks is it's not broken and he will return before the end of this season, very likely at some point this weekend actually. Anyone who knows Carter Bancks, knows it has to be a fairly serious injury to keep him out of a hockey game. From what I understand he's progressed well since Wednesday and if he's not in the line-up tonight, we might see him tomorrow against Edmonton.

Hall of Fame Inductions Tonight

The Hurricanes/Broncos Hall of Fame Committee will be inducting Wes Walz, Brian Trottier, and the Lethbridge Hockey Hounds into the organization's Hall of Fame prior to the Canes' home date tonight with the Kootenay ICE. Fans attending tonight's game will have a chance to win an autographed Walz Minnesota Wild Jersey and a signed Trottier New York Islanders jersey. The raffle will start once the doors open and will run until the end of the second intermission. Raffle tickets will be $5.00 each. Tonight's game against the ICE is a 7 o'clock start. The puck won't likely drop though till closer to 7:20 or 7:30 because of the pre-game ceremonies. Fred Jack and I will have the pre-game show at 6:30 on CJOC.

Thanks,
Pat