Giants Beat the Hurricanes 5-4 in a Shootout

LETHBRIDGE - Lethbridge Hurricanes battled back from a two-goal deficit twice, but ended losing to the Vancouver Giants 5-4 in a shootout as the Canes' winless streak versus the Giants continues.

After a standing ovation to honour Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe who dropped the opening puck, the Vancouver Giants would get the game's first goal less than three minutes in. Brendan Gallagher took a pass at centre ice and blew past the Hurricanes defence and beat Brandon Anderson with a hard wrist shot upstairs to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes would get the equalizer after a mad scramble in front of the Giants goal. Mitch Maxwell put home his 14th goal of the year from his brother Russ to tie the game at 1-1. The Giants though would get that one back soon after on a power play. Spencer Bennett, who's had the hot hand for Vancouver would tip a point shot to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. Vancouver would then get a long two-man advantage before the of the period, but the Hurricanes managed to kill it off and that's the way the period would end. The Hurricanes out shot the Giants 12-7 in the opening 20 minutes. The Giants actually scored their two goals on their first four shots in the game.

In the second, the Giants would quickly jump into 3-1 lead. Just 19 seconds into the period, Neil Manning fired a shot past Anderson to give the visitors a 3-1 lead. That was another power play goal for Vancouver. That was also Vancouver's 3rd goal on just their 8th shot of the game. The Canes' would continue to chip away and they would soon after get a power play goal of their own. Reid Jackson scored his 2nd of the season to cut the Giants lead to 3-2. Vancouver would regain it's two-goal lead when Brendan Rowinski got his stick on a Gallagher shot, tipping one past Anderson to give the Giants a 4-2 lead before the mid-way point of the hockey game. The Hurricanes would get to within one goal once again when Brody Sutter scored his 8th goal of the season, putting the puck past Giants goalie Mark Segal. That cut the Vancouver lead to 4-3 after 40 minutes of play. The Canes' held the edge in shots on goal 26-18.

In the third, the Hurricanes would tie the game at 4-4. Mike Reddington sent a soft shot from the Vancouver blueline, surprising Mark Segal and evening up the score with about 12 minutes remaining in the third period. That was the Captain's 4th goal of the season and a big one for Lethbridge in this game. Neither team was able to win the game in regulation, so for the 17th time this season the Hurricanes would head to extra time to settle the score. The Canes' would get a power play in the O.T. and were unable to score. Then Vancouver would be awarded a power in the extra frame and the Canes' killed that off as the game would head to a shootout to decide a winner. The Giants would ended up getting the only two goals in the skills competition and they would skate away with a 5-4 win.

The Hurricanes quest for their first win against the Giants in more than six years (Dec. 2004) will have to wait for at least another season. The final shots in the game favoured Lethbridge 33-30. The power plays looked like this: Lethbridge 1 for 6 and Vancouver 2 for 6. The Canes' earn a huge single point for the second game in a row. They are now tied with P.A. at 45 points each and are one point behind the 8th place Brandon Wheat Kings and now two points back of 7th place Swift Current in the race for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. It was a very exciting game in front of just under 4000 fans that could've went either way. Lethbridge battled hard from start to finish in this one, but although it was a hard earned single point, it was still tough not to get the win. Hurricanes forward Austin Fyten did not play Wednesday. He was scratched with an "upper-body" injury. It's not known how bad the injury is.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes next game is a key match-up Friday night in Prince Albert when they take on the Raiders for the 4th and final time this season. This is a huge head-to-head battle for both teams given the fact they are tied in points in the standings in the battle for the final few playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes will stop by the Credit Union Centre Saturday for a date against the WHL's top team, the Saskatoon Blades. The next home game for Lethbridge is Wednesday, February 9th when they host the Regina Pats.

Thanks,
Pat

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