LETHBRIDGE - Sam McKechnie scored twice as the Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-2 Wednesday night at the ENMAX Centre.
This game remained scoreless until just past the midway point in the period when the Hurricanes got things going with a pair of quick goals. Russ Maxwell would score his team-leading 16th goal of the season when he tipped a Ryan Pilon point shot which beat Laurent Brossoit to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Just 17 seconds later, the Canes would get another one. Off the draw at centre ice Jamal Watson moved in a snapped home his 9th goal of the season to give Lethbridge a quick 2-0 lead. That's the way the period would end. The Hurricanes held the edge in shots 10-7.
In the second, the Cane Train would keep rolling with two more goals. Sam McKechnie notched his 13th of the season to make it 3-0 Lethbridge and just over a minute later Jay Merkley would get in on the action with his 13th of the season as well to give the Hurricanes a comfortable 4-0 lead. That would be it for Edmonton's starting goalie Laurent Brossoit. He would be pulled in favout of Tristan Jarry for the rest of the night. The Canes weren't done there. With 8 seconds to go, Sam McKechnie burst out on a breakaway and he would roof a shot on Jarry to make it 5-0 Lethbridge. That was his 2nd of the night and 14th of the season. The Hurricanes would take that lead into the dressing through 40 minutes of play. Lethbridge out shot Edmonton 22-18 in the game.
In the third, the Oil Kings would break Ty Rimmer's shutout bid when Curtis Lazar tipped the puck past him to cut the Canes lead to 5-1. Lazar would get another one a few minutes later to make it a 5-2 hockey game, but Lethbridge would seal the game up when highly-touted prospect Giorgio Estephan hammered home his first-ever goal in the Western Hockey League on a late 3rd period power play to make it 6-2 Hurricanes and that's the way the things would end. The victory improves the Hurricanes to 15-14-1-3 on the season. The Canes finished the night 2/5 on the power play and Edmonton was 0/5 with the man advantage.
HURRICANES CALL UP GIORGIO ESTEPHAN
The Hurricanes called up their top pick in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft Wednesday. Forward Giorgio Estephan played his first-ever WHL regular season game. Estephan is 3rd on team scoring with the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club and top 10 in scoring in that league. He has 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 17 games. Estephan is the only 1997 born player on his team.
NEXT UP
The Lethbridge Hurricanes continue this home stand on Friday (Dec. 7) as they play host to rival Medicine Hat. The two teams have split their 4 previous meetings. Game time is 7:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. The Hurricanes will also host the Kootenay ICE Saturday (Dec. 8) for their annual teddy bear toss game.
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.
Thanks for the effort, Canes! THAT was a great game to watch! That is a REALLY good opponent that the Canes made look pretty average with their hard work tonight.
ReplyDeleteJust another team that is not better than the Canes,...just has a better record, right Preston?
I know that Brossoit is better than he showed, but WOW, and hand it to the Canes... THEY FINISHED!!
Not a horrible ref-job for a solo ref... An opinion clearly not shared by the grumpy, whining, and blind Oil King fans in the next section.
Sam's breakaway roofer to make it 5-0 and to welcome Jarry to the Party... H.O.T.N! - Richie
What a great game to watch last night! Except for about 5 minutes the Canes really took it to the Oil Kings with relentless pressure in all 3 zones. All 4 lines were contributing last night, the defense played well especially Johnston who must have played 30 minutes. Rimmer was solid as always. The Oil Kings have the number one PP in the league and looked dreadful going 0/5 and they also have the best PK in the league and Canes were 2/5. One of the keys was they had all 4 lines contributing with young Estaphen in the line up the Canes could keep the momentum and speed up shift after shift, it was great to watch. The numbers are indisputable, the Canes record is 15-14-1-3, with Harper on the 4th line they are 2-12-0-2...This team needs 4 lines with speed to win. Hopefully Duke and Wong will be back soon and Bloomquist is not too seriously hurt on D. Should be a fun two games this weekend! Scott
ReplyDeleteSounded like I missed a great effort by the Canes!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Georgio on his first goal in the WHL!!
Hood's return has certainly help solidify the lines. I only hope he stays healthy the rest of the year cause this team isn't deep, especially at the "big forward" position.
Darren
I don't understand this focus on Harper. It seems like statistical gymnastics to smear a young player in development. Unless he's expected to put the team on his back and single handedly carry them to wins from the 4th line how is the win loss record when he's in the lineup even relevant? It seems more relevant to examine who was generally NOT playing when he was.
ReplyDeleteTom, Harper in playing less than half of the games and bet that with limited ice time, has the 2nd worst +/- on the team and the worst among forwards. The 4th line is supposed to be a tough checking line, not a defensive liability. The win/loss record while he is in the lineup only underscores this. There is a noticeable statistical shift between games he is playing in and games he is sitting out and it is not a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteTonm,
ReplyDeleteIf Harper was a young player it would be one thing but he is 18...you cannot have that level of skill on a WHL club with an 18 year old forward. I am sure he is a great kid who deserves to be playing at a level where he can get ice and contribute.
Great win for the boys. Anon 9:01 I totaly agree with you about Harper. If I am not mistaken there are at least 9 forwards and 6 d- men that get triple the ice time he does so how do his stats mean anything. Scott what are the rest of the teams +/- record in those games. I would like to know what Harper did to you or your family to make you dislike him so much. The problem I saw last night was how bad the Alb. Blom and Topping "d" pairing are . They were terrible last night. Lets go boys keep up the speed and puck pressure on the weekend and we could easily get 2 more wins. AJ
ReplyDeleteI agree that Harper might not be ready for the WHL. My point is that to tag him with some sort of overriding responsibility for team loss is an unjustified smear.
ReplyDeleteGot to love the speed and relentless puck pursuit the Canes used to put the Oil Kings in their place.
ReplyDeleteSolid effort all the way round. Good to see Soffilas back in the lineup and contributing. He just adds more speed to this team and despite his history of concussions, he shows no reluctance to head into the greasy spots.
Here's hoping for a win over the Tiger's and the Ice this weekend.
Good "20 man strong" effort. It is on the inside door of the Hurricane dressing room.
RJ
AJ
ReplyDeleteAlbin Bloomquist left the game injured less than 10 min into the first period and never came back. So not quite sure what game you were watching when you say Bloomquist and Topping we're bad. Canes went with 5 D men almost all game.
Possible concussion for Albin
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the World Junior Selection committee has really made me shake my head on some of their ommissions.
ReplyDeleteAll the Monday night round table hero boy talk about Toronto's draft pick, Morgan Rielly, and he isn't even the best '94 born WHL defender available!
BWK's '94 born RYAN PULOCK should be playing in this tournament THIS year. He is the only WHL defender with better than a point per game average. He is tied for the most goals of ANY defenceman in the WHL, he has a better +/- than all except Portland's Wotherspoon,... and he is achieving all this while playing for one of the worst teams in the WHL this year! Dumba should be carrying Pulock's bag to the tryouts!
I guess Team Canada doesn't need a 101mph point shot? Fn idiots in Toronto! No wonder we haven't seen gold in 4 years.
I talked to a few other guys that were at the game and not one of them noticed Alb. Blom get hurt or not play. So I was not the only one. Hopefully Topping has a better game tonight because he makes to many bad choices passing the puck. My apologizes to Alb. Blom for not realizing he was not playing. AJ
ReplyDeleteAnon at 10:34. Check your facts again. Your wrong on 2 out 3statements you made.
ReplyDelete