RED DEER - The Red Deer Rebels came back to beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 2-1 in a shoot out Friday night.
The Hurricanes got off to a good start in this game. About 6 minutes in, Jaimen Yakubowski took a pass from Sam McKechnie behind the Red Deer goal and he beat Patrik Bartosak for his 8th goal of the season, making it 1-0 Lethbridge. The Canes had a few more chances in the period as did Red Deer, but that's the way things would stay. The Hurricanes took that one goal lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes. The Rebels held the edge in shots 10-8. Overall it turned out to be a pretty road period for the visitors.
In the second, the Red Deer Rebels would come out strong looking for the equalizer, but Ty Rimmer was excellent keeping his team in the game. The Rebels pounded 19 shots at the Lethbridge goal in the second and late in the period they'd get the tying goal. Connor Bleackley spun around out in front of the Canes goal and beat Rimmer with a low shot along the ice with less than a minute remaining to even the game at 1-1 after two periods. Red Deer held a comfortable advantage in shots 29-14.
In the third, both teams went full out to get the winner, but both goalies again were outstanding between the pipes and kept things even at 1-1. Ty Rimmer came up with a sensational save, robbing Bellerive with about 5 minutes remaining. Neither team was able to break the 3rd period tie. Regulation ended and the game went into overtime to try and settle things.
The extra 5 minutes solved nothing and in the shoot out only one goal was scored. Matt Bellerive beat Rimmer low along the ice for the lone goal and the game winner as the Rebels would come away with a 2-1 victory. The Hurricanes earn a big point, but they've now dropped 5 games in a row for the first time since last season. The Canes see their record fall to 13-12-1-2 on the year. Lethbridge was heavily out shot for the second game in a row, this time 45-24. The Hurricanes will be looking for some answers to put the Cane Train back on the right track.
INJURY UPDATE
Reid Duke will miss the next few games with an upper body injury. He was hurt during the Calgary game on Wednesday. With Duke sidelined for a bit, Connor Sutton factored back into the Hurricanes line-up in Red Deer Friday. He's only played one game this year after being injured and coming down with a virus. Captain Graham Hood is still a few weeks away from getting back with his injured hand and Michael Sofillas is still having post-concussion issues.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes will play their next 4 games on the road as they head to Saskatchewan next week. On Tuesday (Nov. 27) the Canes take on the Blades in Saskatoon 6:00 pm MST on CJOC. On Wednesday Lethbridge will travel to Prince Albert. That will close out the November portion of the schedule for the Hurricanes. On Saturday (Dec. 1) the Hurricanes will take on the Tigers in Medicine Hat, and after that they'll head straight to Edmotnon to play the Oil Kings next Sunday (Dec. 2) afternoon at 4:00 pm MST.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Watched this one on "WebTv."
ReplyDeleteIt had the look of "home team was determined to win, visitors were trying not to lose."
You can't always say this against your opponent, but there is NO way that the Dead Rear Gerbils have superior talent and/or skill to out-shoot the Canes 2 to 1; they sure did have superior effort.
They DO have a goalie as good as Rimmer in Bartosak, and at least one excellent coach.
Canes took the night off, and the coaches seem incapable of making in-game adjustments, only post-game excuses.
If the Canes continue to play with this lack of physicality, considering their opposition between now and Christmas, they will be counting many more losses.
Hackman is really impressive, though! At +11, he always seems to make the best decisions.
The team obviously misses Hood.
Ax Blom has GOT to get his game figured out! He was 1,10 +3 in October. He is 1,1 -4 for November, and seems to be getting worse every game. I see the potential, but he is not using his skills and physical attributes to his advantage. - Richie
This lineup needs help in the form of a healthy/experienced body......putting Sutton back in the lineup isn't going to help the depleted forward ranks.
ReplyDeleteDarren
In game adjustments have to be made. Word will get around the league if it hasn't already, that the Canes can't adapt to the trap. Their last two games have shown that. Sure dump and chase can beat the trap, if you win the one-on-one battles on the board. If both players are tenacious, size will win out. Despite the speed, we need a couple of big, strong, fowards who will open up space for the speedy kids. You are right Ritchie, Axel has regressed. He seems lost out there. Other teams have figured him out, thus his in out move does not work.
ReplyDeleteCoaches need to coach.....powerplay systems, when and how to adapt to what the other team does. Systems, systems, systems!
Of course age does factor into this, Hurricanes have 3 OA, 2-19's who are playing and 6 18's. Calgary 3-6-8, Edm 2-9-6, PA 3-5-10, RD 3-3-6 and Sask 3-12-1.
Deals need to be made to get a bit more balance and experience at the 19 and 18 spots.
RJ
Not sure how much these get read after the fact but RJ, Richie and others are perceptive and have constructive input. Overall it is exciting to see the team improving but there is so much more room for improvement. Ax-Blom is certainly frustrating but it's more frustrating to watch him consistently on the top line, playing with Russ against the opponent's best and he's a liability and has absolutely no strength offensively - i hope he can strengthen up but in the meantime but needs to be on the fourth line and motivated to improve. The other night they have a pp going into overtime so they put HIM on the 4 on 3 with Russ. Wow. So many better options. Coaching staff has to know this.
ReplyDeleteThis team has so much youth, speed, and untapped potential. Can you imagine if Rico stopped just rolling all 3 (or 4!) lines as a pp unit? Who does this? Where did he figure this could be effective? Can you imagine Ramsay, Russ and Jay out there? It could be deadly and a pp should be. It's vitally important in today's game. I will give credit to the pk. Russ, Sam, Jamal, Remi - they attack the puck amazingly. Not sure where we're at pk but I'm content there.
It would certainly be nice to get some 19 year olds but I'm not that concerned about this year. Next few seasons should be excellent with the youth movement. D is looking better but Erkamps has to get better and Albin needs to move his feet and keep his head up for better outlet passes. Pilon, Lenny and Johnston are playing their roles well.
I hope by some odd miracle that the coaches can start tapping into what should and could be amazing potential through effective systems.
NBJ
Hi Pat. Here is my answer to the all of the lunatics that post on the "54 WHL Whiteboard".
ReplyDelete#1 The Saskatoon Blades will finish above .500 hockey this year.
#2 The Saskatoon Blades will be in the WHL playoffs.
#3 The Saskatoon Blades will probably finish as high as 4th in the Conference.
#4 The Saskatoon Blades should win one round in the playoffs.
#5 The Memorial Cup will be played in the City of Saskatoon.
#6 The Saskatoon Blades will be playing in the Memorial Cup.
#7 The Saskatoon Blades will in no way shape or form win the Memorial Cup.
I will take any and all bets that at least 5, if not all 7 of these statements come to fruition.
Having said all that, I hope the Hurricanes kick the Blade’s a$$ in tonight’s game!!!!!
canesrock