LETHBRIDGE - Laurent Brossoit stopped all 45 shots he faced as the Edmonton Oil Kings shut out the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0 Thursday night at the ENMAX Centre.
Lethbridge got off to a decent start in thhis game, but it would be the visitors who would open the scoring. Almost 4 minutes in, Mitch Moroz got his stick on the puck during a scramble in front of the Lethbridge goal and he would knock the puck by Ty Rimmer giving Edmonton a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes had some solid scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes too as they out shot the Oil Kings 19-12. Laurent Brossoit was very good between the pipes for Edmonton.
In the second, the Hurricanes thought they had tied the game on a power play, but the referee behind the goal blew the play down, eventhough the Edmonton goalie did not have the puck covered. It went off the inside of Brossoit's pad and in. So a quick whistle prevented the Lethbridge Hurricanes from evening up the score. Edmonton killed off that penalty and then a few minutes later scored to take a 2-0 lead when Klarc Wilson's shot beat Rimmer. Edmonton would take that two goal lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes. Lethbridge held the edge in shots 34-28.
In the third, the Hurricanes continued pumping rubber at Brossoit, but the Edmonton goaltender didn't break in this one. The Oil Kings would score twice more before the final buzzer, both by Stephane Legault and the Oil Kings would take home a 4-0 victory. Laurent Brossoit was excellent in the Edmonton goal earning the shut out as the Canes out shot the Oil Kings 45-34. Lethbridge finished the game 0/6 on the power play and the Oil Kings 0/2. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to 19-18-1-4 on the season.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes will play the second game of this 4 game home stand on Saturday when they host the Swift Current Broncos. This will be the 4th and final meeting of the season between these two clubs, with Lethbridge winning all 3 previous games including a 6-4 comeback win in Swift Current on New Year's Day. The Hurricanes erased a 4-1 3rd period deficit in that one and scored 5 times in the final 15 minutes to win it. Game time from the ENMAX Centre Saturday (Jan. 5) is 7:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. The Canes will host Moose Jaw Sunday (Jan. 6) and Vancouver comes to town next Wednesday (Jan. 9).
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.
Opportunity SQUANDERED!
ReplyDeleteAlmost the entire team played as if they wanted to be traded.... But Edmonton sure wouldn't want any of them!
I did not enjoy this game or see any chance of success in the coaches plan, that is IF they actually tried to implement one. We have seen Edmonton play some unbelievable hockey, but this was NOT it.
Rimmer looked like he had only ONE of two contacts in his eyes the entire first period. Canes were lucky only one went in with all the rebounds and misplayed pucks.
The second Oil King goal from the boards should not have beat any WHL tender, never mind an excellent tender like Rimmer.
Post game comments were about all the scoring chances the Canes had... but I sure didn't see them. I saw opportunities squandered, but didn't see any strong plays stopped by a star tender. If anything HAD gone in of all the weak attempts, it would have been referred to as "one he should have had."
The Kings were very beatable in this one, and although I think Brossoit is a fantastic tender and should have been in UFA, RUSSIA this past week, I played one year of minor hockey in goal, was not particularly good, yet I would have likely earned a shut-out in net against the weak attempts the Canes made tonight.
There was NOTHING remotely dangerous on goal. A lot of play/cycle under the goal line with no plan for a shot, and with NOBODY IN FRONT OF THE NET, until they finally lost the puck. REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT. 4-0.
The FIVE on THREE PPs were DISGUSTING... AGAIN. Passes were slow, poor, and shots were rare and/or poorly executed.
The disallowed goal was a joke! The phantom "ELBOWING" call on Watson was ridiculous!
More than anything, I am extremely disappointed with the unequal line play from the coaches tonight.
Anon 11:15 I agree with most of what you said. Rimmer did look a shaky in most of this game. Why will these coaches not plat Tai more? He is 2 - 1 in his 3 games so its not like the team loses every game he is in net. Most of the players are not making any progress to becoming better players. What has happened to the Merkley line. They have gone from looking like a force to looking like they should not be playing in the whl. Does anyone know if Sutton is hurt or healthy scratch? This team will not get better until they get rid of the coaches. Preston is not and has never been a good coach and that includes his assistant time in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:15....I didn't see the game, but my question to you regarding your comments vs. Pat's comments is
ReplyDelete"you're of the opinion that out of the 45 shots the Canes had, none of them were good scoring opportunities?"
Somehow, I find that hard to believe. One person told me that Brossoit looked like the goalie that took the Oil Kings to the Memorial Cup last year in this game, so that's one person who doesn't agree with you.
Darren
Wow, Anon 11:15, I definitely saw a different game than you did.
ReplyDeleteI thought the Canes were the better team in the first period, they came out hustling and I thought really took it to Edmonton.
They were skating hard, forechecking hard, and really cycling the puck well. While the Edmonton tender was certainly not spectacular, he was solid, and I thought he was the difference in the game.
I agree with you, I thought that Rimmer was (and has been) rather shaky, and thought he was simply outplayed by the guy at the other end of the ice.
The only fault that I realyy had with the boys tonight was that I did not think that they were near physical enough, and they weren't getting to the "ugly" spots in front of the net. Any quality tender in this league will stop most of the ones that he can see.
And, lastly, I do not know whose system is in use for the PP, but for crying out loud, FIND A NEW ONE!! Barely getting shots on two consecutive 5 on 3's tells me that it just ain't working.
The boys deserved a better fate tonight with their effort, and I thought that for the first time in a long time, they actually played well enough to win and certainly did not deserve the goose egg. They have certainly lost enough times when they deserved to.
Chuck
Pat what is the situation with Conner Sutton? He is not listed as injured? Sofillas at 5'9 165 lbs has done as good as he can do filling in but he is not a guy who can win battles in the corner or in front of the net. It is unfair to him as he is a valuable forward. Don't understand the thinking? Scott
ReplyDelete11:15 here again...
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that the Canes didn't skate fast, have puck possession, or have scoring chances.
My opinion is that Rimmer was very unprepared for this game, and that the Canes SQUANDERED their scoring opportunities...with POOR or weak shots when they were in position to score, and with dump-ins to the corners instead of taking the puck hard to the net.
@ Darren , RE: Brossoit
Watch the game "highlights" and decide for yourself. "45" shots yet the highlight pack barely shows any Cane chances... because there just weren't any worthy of showing! There will be no Brossoit clips for "highlight of the week"
Canes shots came from the outside to the logo...and with nobody going to the front of the net! Same thing again tonight against the Broncos. Except for a couple from Johnson, TERRIBLE and WEAK SHOOTING with no net presence/rebound followup!
Wong, Laurencelle, and Leverton were the difference in the last game against the Broncos... WHERE WAS THEIR 3rd period ICE TIME in these last 2 games against EOK and SCB?? LOUSY COACHING!!
Anon 11:15.....when a goalie gets a shutout by stopping 45 shots, he's generally considered the 1st freaking star for crying out loud. Just let it go already....he was the best player on the ice for both teams!
ReplyDelete