MEDICINE HAT - The Lethbridge Hurricanes came close, but lost 2-1 in a shoot out to the Tigers in Medicine Hat Saturday night.
The Hurricanes got off to a nice start on the road in this game. Just over 2 minutes into the first period, Jay Merkley's drop pass was picked up by Craig Leverton and he fired the puck by Cam Lanigan to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. That was Leverton's 5th goal of the season. The Tigers would have a few chances on the power play late in the period to tie things up by Ty Rimmer was able to keep them off the scoreboard. The Canes took that one goal into the dressing room after 20 minutes. Medicine Hat out shot Lethbridge 14-10.
In the second, the Tigers would tie the game on a rather strange goal. Dylan Busenius simply dumped the puck in from centre ice and it bounced past Rimmer to even the game at 1-1. Rimmer though never let that unlucky bounce bother him because he bounced back with a few key saves including a huge stop of Tigers' forward Boston Leier shorthanded. The game would remain tied at 1-1 after two period. The shots were close as well, 26-24 Medicine Hat.
In the third, both teams would go full out to try and get the go-ahead goal, but both Rimmer and Lanigan were able to shut the door for their respective teams and that would send the game into overtime. Neither team was able to get the winner in the extra 5 minutes so we would head to a shoot out to decide the winner of this game. The Tigers scored twice and Lethbridge only once and the Tigers would skate away with the 2-1 victory. The Hurricanes out shot the Tigers 42-38 and deserved a better fate in this game. Lethbridge went 0/2 on the power plat and Medicine Hat 0/4. The loss drops the Canes record to 14-13-1-3. Despite the loss, the Hurricanes earn a big single point.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes will travel to Edmonton for their next game Sunday (Dec. 2). It's a late afternoon start at 4:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 3:30. This will be only the second of 6 meetings this season between the two clubs with the Oil Kings blanking the Hurricanes in Lethbridge in the second week of the season. After this game, the Hurricanes will head home and play 5 straight games before the Christmas break and won't play away from the ENMAX Centre against until December 28th. Their next home game is Wednesday (Dec. 5) when they host Edmonton.
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.
Attendance of 4006, with 3000 empty seats... on Teddy Bear night; what a joke that city and arena is.
ReplyDeleteIf Preston is intersted in consistency in punishing his players for poor play, Ax-Blom should not have seen the ice after his offensive zone penalty 16 minutes into the second.
Once again,... can't win with Harper in the line up. This team needed to make a better decision on Olynek.
Olynek is a non issue. Preston made a committment to the Saskatoon Contacts that Olynek would be back for the season. If he reneges on that committment, any relationship that he and his scouts have with the Contacts will be done, plus word around the Midgets ranks will be that Preston is not a man of his word. As much as we'd like to see Olynek in the lineup, it will only come on an injury emergancy basis.
ReplyDeleteRJ
Some Jackass cottoneyed joe dancing Hurricane fans threw their stuffed animals on the ice when the canes scored.
ReplyDeleteHey Pat. Just wanted to Thank you again for stopping to say hello. It was really nice meeting you! I really enjoy your broadcasts and look up to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you
Cam S
Medicine Hat Cubs Broadcastor
Good effort. Watched the game on the net. Anytime Shinkaruk and Valk are held pointless defence and goaltending have done their job. Johnston was a beast on D I don't know how many hits he had it was a lot . I am looking forward to a fourth line of Soffilas Wong and Duke with Hood back in the line up and Henry back on D . Right now we are short handed every time the fourth line hits the ice and the other 3 lines are bagged by the end of the game. Need 4 lines that can play. Once our forwards are back Axel Bloomquist must sit and just practice skating. He is a project that is not ready . He looks like a midget house league player. He falls for no apparent reason , can't pass or take a pass and can't shoot. Let him work on his skills in practice
ReplyDeleteand bring him back for next year! TD
3000 empty seats, maybe clean your good eye and have another look. Wasn't full but tis the Christmas party season.
ReplyDeletePat,
ReplyDeleteNice stat on our team being the youngest at 17.4 yrs old. I still think we are a 5-8 place team that can gain money and experience in the playoffs. Speaking of t-bear toss, I hope the canes where their new alternate. Might gain a lot of jersey sales close to Christmas in a full house. HLR
Good game boys. Why the hate for Harper ? I agree he is definetly not the best player on the ice but do you honestly beleive that a 4 line forward with a 0 +/- for the game was why they lost. Give your head a shake! If the other 3 lines can not play 15 - 20 minutes a game and not be bagged maybe we need to fire the conditioning coach. Were Duke and Wong healthy scratches? Here is an idea move Duke into Ax. Blom spot and send him home. Still have no idea what all the excitement was for him in the early season. Good Luck this afternoon boys. AJ
ReplyDeletePats comments about being the youngest team makes the trade deadline discussion interesting . The Canes can make the playoffs with what they have but can they make a move to improve for next year?
ReplyDeleteReally only Rimmer or Johnston will get the team something. Canes need to keep Rimmer for any playoff chance. Do you move Johnston who is a top 5 defenceman in the league to a contender since Henry is coming back and try and get something for next year? SJM
Tigers are lucky they saw ANY bears... Only goal from centre ice?!
ReplyDeleteSince Hood got hurt in the win against Victoria, the Canes have gone 3-6-0-2, whereas they were working on a 7-3 streak prior to that Victoria game.
I imagine that a number of factors have contributed to the downturn. Hood out. Galbraith quit. Tougher schedule. Duke now hurt, and Rimmer couldn't save the day alone.
In the 11 games since the win against Victoria, the Canes have only won 3 times... Harper was out of the line-up only twice, and the Canes happened to win both those games. They beat PA in PA,.. with TAI in net, and the Canes won IN Moose Jaw (These are also the ONLY two games Olynek played in).
No hate for Harper. He has shown a few flashes of skill, but the above information coupled with his lean stats; 16 games played, zero points, worst plus/minus among all forwards (-4), and very little physicality considering his size, as a '94-born, is he earning his keep on this team?
As a 200+ pound, '93-born, with only 3 assists and a -3, I would ask the same about an underperforming Alb-Blom. We should be referring to this guy as "The Punisher" by now - Richie
Richie.....the only thing Axel is "punishing" is HIS OWN TEAM!! He has digressed a lot since the start of the season.
ReplyDeletelongtimefan......I think the point is that there just as many empty seats as there were butts in seats. As Anon 2:14 states, Tiger fans were lucky to get a chance to throw ANY teddy bears on the ice, so there's certainly nothing wrong with a few Canes' fans throwing a few bears after a Canes goal!!
@Anon 11:08....trading Johnston at any point other than the trade deadline would spell disaster for this defensive group. Not sure why you would trade him when you're trying to show your fans that you're trying to make the playoffs?? Are you one of these guys who's always looking to the future??? At some point, the future has to be now, not in 3 years.
Darren