Blades Defeat Hurricanes 5-2 in Saskatoon

SASKATOON, SK - The Saskatoon Blades scored three times on the power play as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2 Saturday night.

The Saskatoon Blades would strike first in this game.  Less than four minutes into the first period, Logan Hardland tipped a point shot, beating Corbin Boes on the Blades first shot of the night to make it 1-0 Saskatoon. The Blades would keep it coming. They rung one off the crossbar a few minutes later, but that stayed out. The Canes had some very good scoring chances as well, but Troy Trombley was solid between the pipes for Saskatoon. The Blades would take the one goal lead into the dressing room. They out shot Lethbridge 19-12.

In the second, the Hurricanes would get into penalty trouble and the Blades would make them pay with a pair of power play goals. First it was Nick Zajac scoring on the man advantage to make it 2-0 Blades. Minutes later Saskatoon would get yet another power play and they would score again. Logan Harland with a pretty backhander over a sprawled out Corbin Boes giving Saskatoon a 3-0 lead. That was his second goal of the night. The penalty parade would continue for Lethbridge later in the period. Another power play and another goal for the Blades. Nick Zajac would get his second goal of the evening to make it 4-0 Saskatoon after 40 minutes of play. The Blades held a 36-19 edge in shots on goal.

In the third, the Hurricanes would finally get on the score sheet. Jamal Watson jammed home his 11th goal of the season to cut the Blades lead to 4-1. The Canes would keep chipping away. On the power play, Reid Duke took a nice drop pass from Riley Sheen and wired home his 9th goal of the season. That cut the Blades lead to 4-2. The Hurricanes pulled Boes late to get the extra attacker on the ice, but Chase Clayton would score into an empty net and that would seal the game as Saskatoon would win it 5-2. Lots of shots in this game. Saskatoon with a slight edge 47-45. The power play did some damage for Saskatoon going 3/6. The Hurricanes went 1/3. The loss drops the Canes overall record to 8-30-2-3 in 43 games this season. In the last 5 games since the Christmas break, the Hurricanes have given up a combined 242 shots against. That averages out to 48.4 shots against in those 5 games.

Hurricanes This Week

Our regular weekly Hurricanes radio show is back on the air Monday night (Jan. 6) as we kick off 2014. Joining Fred Jack and myself in studio will be Hurricanes Assistant Coach Mike Craig. We will also speak with Hurricanes forward Russ Maxwell, and in the last segment of the program Fred and I will be joined by Regan Bartell, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets. Between now and mid-March we will have a total of 10 shows before the end of the regular season. The program starts at 7:00 pm on 94.1 CJOC.

Next Up

The Hurricanes now return home for their next 4 games before hitting the road again for 5 straight. The Canes next action is Wednesday (Jan. 8) when they host the Kootenay ICE. Game time is 7:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. I will be away for that game, so Fred Jack will take over the play-by-play reigns on Wednesday night. I'll return to the broadcast booth Friday night (Jan. 10) when the Hurricanes host the WHL's best team, the Kelowna Rockets. The Canes will then welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday (Jan. 11) and then the following Tuesday (Jan. 14) the Medicine Hat Tigers are back in town.

Thanks,
Pat