Warriors Down Hurricanes 5-2

MOOSE JAW, SK. - Three second period goals in roughly seven minutes was the difference as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Hurricanes 5-2 last night at the Crushed Can.

The Moose Jaw Warriors would grab the early lead in this hockey game in the first period. Nathan McMaster put the puck upstairs on a down and out Brandon Anderson in the Lethbridge goal to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Anderson played very well in the opening 20 minutes and had to come up with a number of solid stops. The Warriors out shot the Canes' 14-7 after the first period. Lethbridge had a few good chances too, but most of the quality scoring opportunities in the first easily went to the Warriors. Both teams played with a number of key players out with injury. Moose Jaw played without Quinton Howden, Dylan Mcllrath, Kendall McFaull, and goalie Jeff Bosch. The Hurricanes had Daniel Johnston and Austin Fyten sidelined in this one.

In the second period, it didn't take for the Hurricanes to even the score. Just 19 seconds in Carter Bancks put a rolling puck between the legs of Moose Jaw's Brandon Glover to even the score at one. It was Bancks' 18th goal of the season and team leading 52nd point. The Warriors though regained that one goal lead when Jason Bast fired a shot into the top corner giving Moose Jaw a 2-1 advantage. That was the first of three goals in a span of roughly seven minutes for Moose Jaw. Not too long after that Tony Honejsek gave the Warriors a 3-1 lead and about a minute or so later Brendan Rowinski put the home side up 4-1. Moose Jaw pounded 16 shots at Anderson in that second period. The Canes' goaltender came up with a number of huge saves to keep his team somewhat in the game. The Warriors out shot Lethbridge 16-4 in the second and 30-11 overall after 40 minutes.

In the third, the Canes' cut the Moose Jaw lead in half when Reid Jackson scored his 4th goal of season. The Hurricanes just couldn't muster any offence in this game. The Warriors pretty much dominated Lethbridge and out shot them heavily 40-17 throughout the entire. Give the Warriors some credit here. They played well and deserved to win this one. The loss drops the Canes' record to 19-42-5-3 in 69 games. The Canes' had just one power play in this game and it came with two minutes to go in third period. The Warriors finished the night 0/3 with the man advanatge. The three star selection was a Moose Jaw sweep: (3) Ehrhardt, (2) McMaster, (1) Rowinski.

Injury Update

The Hurricanes sat two regulars last night in Moose Jaw and played one of their newest prospects for the first time. (F) Austin Fyten sat out with a nagging shoulder problem and (D) Daniel Johnston also didn't play. He did suit up in Regina on Friday but an issue with his leg has flared up again. Johnston received a deep skate cut a month ago and since then it's become infected. This was the second game this past week that Johnston has had to sit out because of the infection. He's been taking antibiotics to try and clear it up. (F) Taylor Balog finally made his Lethbridge Hurricanes debut last night in Moose Jaw. Head Coach and GM Rich Preston gave Balog a regular shift last night and he was slotted on the third line with Brody Sutter and Dustin Donaghy. I thought he looked really good for a kid who is still 15 years old, soon to be 16. He was a game time decision in Regina the night before. Balog came back with us on the bus to Lethbridge and will practice with the Hurricanes for the rest of this week and could very well factor into the final three games depending on injuries.

Next Up

The Hurricanes now head home to play their last two games of the 2009/2010 season. The Cane's play host Red Deer on Tuesday. Lethbridge has lost all five games they've played against the Rebels this season, two of which resulted in 1-0 shut outs for Red Deer. Lethbridge plays it's last home game Friday against Medicine Hat. The Canes' will hand out their yearly awards prior to that game. They'll close out the season in the Hat Saturday night. Tuesday game versus Red Deer is a 7pm start (MT).

Thanks,
Pat