Canes' Losing Streak Hits Seven

KELOWNA - The Lethbridge Hurricanes put out a solid effort and Linden Rowat was great in goal, but it wasn't enough as the Kelowna Rocket beat the Canes' 3-2 last night at Prospera Centre.

A much better start for the Hurricanes last night. In a complete reversal of the past three games, the Canes' found themselves up 1-0 early. Landon Oslanski point shot went in 1:02 into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Rockets came back strong trying to get that equalizer, but Linden Rowat had a stellar first period in goal and turned away all 19 shots he faced to keep the visitors in a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. This was huge for Lethbridge given the recent struggles early in games. They managed to get through the opening period without allowing a goal against and with the lead too. Goaltending was huge for Canes' in the first. The shots after one favoured Kelowna 19-9.

In the second, the Rockets kept on coming. They tied the game early on a 5 on 3 power play and not too long after grabbed 2-1 lead on goals by Tyson Barrie and Shane McColgan. Linden Rowat was able to shut the door after that and before the end of the period the Hurricanes dug a little deeper and evened the score once again. Mitch Maxwell notched his team leading 24th goal of the year to tie the game 2-2 after two. The Hurricanes were being out shot 30-17 following 40 minutes of play.

In the third, it turned out to be the last team to score would win. The Hurricanes and Rockets battled down right to the late stages when Geordie Wudrick banked the puck off Canes' defencemen Mike Reddington to give the home team a 3-2 lead. The Hurricanes would press to tie, but they would fall short,losing by that 3-2 score. Linden Rowat had a great rebound game and was named the first start in a losing cause. The Hurricanes were out shot 46-24.

I don't think the Hurricanes can hold their heads low about this one. They battled hard and played well. They just came up short. It was the team's best effort in a couple of weeks. When you look at it, Lethbridge played well for a team that had only 15 skaters and 2 goalies dressed.

Injuries Mounting

Here's another update on the team's injury situation. Phil Tot was unable to play last night. He suffered a concussion when he hit his head on the ice during a fight against Vancouver. Austin Fyten did play in Kelowna last night despite injuring his ribs in Chilliwack. He was a factor and played a regular shift all night long. Tot joins Ryckman, Johnston, Ross, and Hood all out with injury. The Canes' played last night with 10 forwards and 5 defencemen.

Preston On The Recent Struggles

I asked Rich Preston before last night's game in Kelowna about the troubles scoring and keeping the put out as of late. He says, "Well we haven't been very good right from the goaltender out. We get early goals scored against us and then I think we try to do too much. We had a good talk today with the guys and sometimes you have to get back to square one. They have to see how we lost and why we lost like we did. We showed them video of the games and it's pretty simple things." I would assume Preston is much happier after last night's effort.

Next Up

The Hurricanes will close out this B.C road trip tonight when they travel to Kamloops to take on the Blazers. Game time is 8 o'clock (MT). The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30. The Blazers beat the Canes' back in late September. Kamloops will also pay a visit to Lethbridge at the end of this month.

Thanks,
Pat