Hurricanes Win 2-1 in Shootout in P.A.

PRINCE ALBERT, SK. - The Hurricanes got two goals in the shootout as they beat the Prince Albert Raiders 2-1 Saturday night.

No scoring in the first period in this game. It was a slow start for Lethbridge as it took seven minutes for the Hurricanes to register their first shot on goal. After that though, the Canes' kept it coming. Lethbridge managed to out shoot P.A. 12-7 in the opening period, with the best chance to score coming from Alex Kuvaev who was robbed by Raiders rookie goaltender Eric Williams.

In the second, the Canes' broke the scoreless tie when Max Ross put the puck in passed Eric Williams to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead. It was Ross' second goal of the season. The Raiders would even the score before the end of the period. Jonathon Parker threw the puck out of the corner and it bounced off Anderson and in to tie the game 1-1. That goal seemed to give P.A. some life as the game moved on. The Raiders out shot the Canes' 15-11 in the second period, but Lethbridge held the edge 23-22 after 40 minutes.

In the third both teams tried getting the go-ahead goal, but for the third time in as many games for the Hurricanes, extra time would be needed to determine a winner. P.A. came out heavy in overtime and hammered six shots at Brandon Anderson, but couldn't get the winner. Anderson made what turned out to be a game-saver stop with 1:30 left in O.T. when he made an unbelievable save right off a face-off in the Hurricanes zone. The game would eventually go into a shootout. No one scored through the first three rounds, until Mitch Maxwell and Ryon Moser finally found a way to get a couple of goals by Williams. The Raiders got one goal by Anderson, but that's the way the game would end. The Hurricanes held on for a 2-1 victory. With the win, the Hurricanes improve to 5-4-0-3 on the season and are back over the .500 mark for the first time since opening weekend. Prince Albert out shot the Hurricanes 42-34 in the game. Both teams went 0/4 with the power play.

Both teams battled hard in this one and really it could've went either way. Both goalies were outstanding for their respective teams and were rewarded with star selections at the end of the game. You have to give the Hurricanes a whole lot of credit. The managed five out a possible six points on this Saskatchewan road trip. The played hard, got some good goaltending, and a bit of good luck too. Now the Canes' need to establish a presence one home ice. With 13 points on the season, 10 of those points have been earned on the road and only 3 at home. It's critical now that this team find a way to make the ENMAX Centre a tough place for opposing teams to play.

It appears Rich Preston may have himself a nice young line in the making. Ryan Moser, Mark Reners, and Phil Tot have looked very good together over the passed three games. That's one positive for this team going forward. I also liked the play of Max Ross on this road trip along with Michael Sofillas. It appears some players are really starting to find their rolls with this team. The Hurricanes were also more disciplined last night in P.A. They only took four minor penalties, all which the Canes' managed to kill off.

The Raiders are reeling a bit after losing their co-Captains and top defencemen over the course of the past few weeks. Jordan Rowley went down with a broken wrist a few weeks ago and against Medicine Hat the other night, P.A. lost Nathan Deck with a bad knee injury. Those two players are very key to the Raiders defence. Both are out for the next number of weeks, leaving Head Coach & G.M. Bruno Campese with a rather young defensive corp.

Next Up

The Hurricanes will be back at home now for the next week. It's not an overly busy week, as the Canes' will play just two games during the next seven days. Wednesday (Oct 27) the Hurricanes will entertain the Vancouver Giants and on Saturday (Oct 30) the Brandon Wheat Kings will roll into town. Lethbridge will looking for it's first win against Vancouver in nearly six seasons. The Giants have really had the Hurricanes number. It'll be the first of two visits by the Giants to Lethbridge this season. The other meeting is set for February 2, 2011. As for the Wheaties, it'll be the Hurricanes first of four head-to-head matches against Brandon. The Hurricanes will travel to the Wheat City for the re-match November 12.

Thanks,
Pat

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