Friday 14 January 2011

Hurricanes Double Up Calgary 4-2

LETHBRIDGE - Cam Braes scored twice as the Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Calgary Hitmen 4-2 Friday night at the ENMAX Centre.

The Hurricanes would get off to another strong start. Cam Braes scored his team-leading 9th goal of the to give the Canes' a 1-0 lead. Jacob Berglund would put the Hurricanes ahead 2-0 a few minutes later. Berglund notched his 11th of the season to put the home side ahead by a pair before the game was even 8 minutes old. That's the way the period ended. Just like on Wednesday, the Canes' would take a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes. The Canes' out shot Calgary 10-8 in the first period.

In the second, the Hurricanes would make it 3-0 when Braes scored his second of the game on a 5-on-3 power play. With the goal, Braes is the first Hurricane to hit 20 goals on the season. For me, this was maybe the key goal of the night beacuse not too long after that, the Canes' would find themselves in some serious penalty trouble. The penalty killers stood tall, preventing Calgary from finding the back of the net. The Hurricanes killed off back-to-back 5-on-3 power plays. One of those two-man advantages was for 1:45 and the other for a full 2:00. The P.K. was outstanding for Lethbridge and helped them hold a 3-0 lead after two periods of the play. The Hurricanes held the edge in shots on goal in this game 24-16 after 40 minutes.

In the third, the Calgary Hitmen would attempt another late comeback. Calgary stole the puck while the Hurricanes were on a power play and Nathan McMaster scored short-handed to cut the Canes' lead to 3-1. The Hitmen would really make things interesting with another goal shortly after. Misha Fisenko put the puck past Brandon Anderson to make it a 3-2 hockey game. That would be as close as the Hitmen would get to a comeback though on this night. Less than a minute after that goal, Landon Oslanski floated a shot from the point that beat Calgary goalie Michael Snider to give Lethbridge a 4-2 lead. The Hitmen would switch goalies after that goal as Brendan Glover would come in to finish the game. The Hitmen would push to get another goal and even pulled the goalie early to try and get one, but the Canes' managed to hold them off this time and secure the victory on home ice.

The game ended with multiple fights in the final minute. The two officials doled out a number of penalties to both teams. The Hurricanes out shot Calgary 32-25 in this game. As I said earlier, the Hurricanes penalty killers were a big reason they were able to win this game. Calgary went 0 for 8 on the power play while the Hurricanes finished the night 1 for 6. With the win, Lethbridge improves to 14-19-2-7 on the year for 37 points. With Prince Albert winning Friday as well, the Canes' still trail the Raiders by 5 points for the final playoff spot in the East and still have 4 games in hand on P.A.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes will take on the Calgary Hitmen for the third straight time on Sunday, this time at the Scotiabank Saddledome. This will be an early afternoon game starting at 2:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 1:30. The two teams will meet one last time this season in Calgary, but not until March 11th. The Hurricanes head to Medicine Hat on Tuesday and then it's off for three games in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Canes' next home game isn't until January 25th when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Thanks,
Pat

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3 comments:

  1. NICE job Hurricanes! A GREAT start with energy and maybe just a LITTLE killer instinct developed in this one.

    VERY impressive PK all night! Now the team needs to go and ingrain some better work ethic by DOMINATING them in the Saddledome (as defined by at least twice as many shots EVERY period, and THREE or LESS penalties for the ENTIRE game). - Richie.

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  2. Nice win by the Canes and a louder building too. I though Braes and Anderson were fantastic. A little melee at the end was good entertainment too.
    GDC

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  3. I like the Hurricanes to get a win Sunday in Calgary. Some of that discipline is a little easier to keep on the road. If they start well, they should have no problem hanging onto the lead when Calgary charges back.
    And Calgary's got a good group of forwards, so holding them in check at the Saddledome will be tough.
    -- Dylan

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