Hurricanes Beat Pats 3-2 in Overtime

REGINA, SK. - Cam Braes scored twice including the game winner in overtime as the Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Regina Pats 3-2.

Unlike the first period in Brandon on Friday when the two teams exchanged five goals, the first period in Regina Saturday ended up scoreless. The Hurricanes again started strong as they threw numerous pucks on the Regina goal, but had nothing to show for their efforts as Damien Ketlo for Regina stood tall between the pipes to keep the Canes' off the scoresheet. Lethbridge out shot the Pats 13-4 in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second, the game would finally see a few goals. Landon Oslanski opened the scoring for Lethbridge with his 5th goal of the year on the power play to make it 1-0 Hurricanes. Regina would tie it up less than a minute later when Garrett Mitchell put the puck past Dylan Tait to even the score at 1-1. Five minutes after that Brandon Davidson from Taber would score with a shot from the point to give the Pat a 2-1 lead, but the Canes' evened things up again. This time Cam Braes tipped home his team-leading 23rd of the year to make it a 2-2 hockey game after 40 minutes. The Hurricanes held the edge in shots 20-14 after two periods of play.

In the third, both teams went back-and-forth to try and win the game in regulation, but just like the first period of this game, there would be no scoring. In the overtime, the Hurricanes would be awarded a late power play and they would make no mistake. The guy with the hot hand as of late would end the game for Lethbridge. Cam Braes scored his 24th of the season off a feed from Landon Oslanski and the Hurricanes would earn the extra point and win the game 3-2.

The Hurricanes improve to 16-22-2-7 on the season and are now tied with Regina with 41 points each and just two points back of the 8th and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Canes' out shot the Pats 33-25 on the night and the power play was good going 2 for 4 while Regina finished the game 0 for 3. The Hurricanes are 3 and 3 in their passed six games with wins over Calgary, Medicine Hat, and Regina over the passed couple of weeks. Cam Braes continues to impress. He's really leading the way offensively lately along with his linemates Austin Fyten and Brody Sutter. The Hurricanes received some offence from the defence Saturday as well. Landon Oslanski chipped in with a goal and two assists in what was likely his best game of the season. It was a solid effort for the Hurricanes from start to finish in this game. They played well for their 5th game in the last seven days.

NEXT UP

The busy stretch continues for the Hurricanes in the coming week and things certainly don't get any easier. The Hurricanes will be back at home Tuesday night when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings. That will be the first game of four in five nights for the Hurricanes. The Canes' will head to Red Deer on Wednesday and then play a home-and-away set with the Kootenay ICE Friday in Lethbridge and Saturday in Cranbrook. So, the Canes' will face two of the WHL's top teams in the Eastern Conference over the next week, in the Rebels and ICE.

Thanks,
Pat

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