Wednesday 1 January 2014

Hurricanes Double Up Regina Pats 6-3

REGINA, SK - Three goals in less than a minute to open the second period was the difference as the Lethbridge Hurricanes started off 2014 in fine fashion with a 6-3 victory on the road in Regina.

The Hurricanes, with a depleted line-up opened the scoring on the road in this game. Griffin Foulk's point shot went off a Regina defenceman and past goalie Nick Schneider. That was Foulk's 4th goal of the season making it 1-0 Lethbridge.  The Pats came close to tying the game late in the period when Jesse Zgraggen fired a shot off the goal post. The Canes would dodge that bullet and carry a 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes. The shots favoured Lethbridge 12-11.

In the second, the Hurricanes would blow the game wide open with three goals in a span of just 52 seconds. Tyler Bell scored his 3rd of the season at the 1:05 making it 2-0 Lethbridge. Just 19 seconds later, Reid Duke notched his 8th goal of the season giving the Canes a 3-0 lead. That would be it for goalie Nick Schneider. He was pulled in favour of Dawson MacAuley. That didn't help much because 31 seconds after that, the Hurricanes would make it 4-0 when Riley Sheen snapped home his 8th of the season. The Canes had scored 3 goals of their first 3 shots of the 2nd period. The Hurricanes kept it coming. A few minutes after that, Riley Sheen would score his second goal of the game when he snapped a shot through the legs of MacAuley, giving Lethbridge a 5-0 lead. Another goaltending change for the Pats following that goal by Sheen. MacAuley out and Schneider back in. Before the end of the period, Regina would score when Kyle Burroughs' point shot beat Corbin Boes to cut the Canes lead to 5-1 after 40 minutes. Regina also held a 29-25 edge in shots on goal.

In the third, the Pats would get another one. Connor Gay managed to jam the puck by Boes to cut the Lethbridge Hurricanes lead to 5-2. Regina would make the game a little more interesting. The Hurricanes were unable to clear the zone when Chandler Stephenson stole the puck and wired a shot by Boes to cut the Lethbridge lead to 5-3. Regina then pulled the goaltender with 2 minutes remaining, but Russ Maxwell would ice the game with an empty netter, scoring his 10th of the season and the Hurricanes would skate away with a 6-3 victory. Regina out shot Lethbridge 49-33. It's the 3rd game in a row an opponent has either surpassed are gotten to within one shot of 50 against the Hurricanes. The Pats were 0/3 on the power play. Lethbridge went 0/2. The victory improves the Canes record to 8-28-2-23 on the season. They also have 5 wins in their last 10 games.

Injury Bug Hitting Hard

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are feeling the impact of the injury bug heading into 2014. The last game of December in Medicine Hat was a very costly one for Lethbridge, as three players went down with injury. Captain Josh Derko is likely out for an extended period of time after hurting his knee when his skate caught a rut on the ice December 29th. In the same game, goaltender Teagan Sacher left the ice with an upper body injury after being run into by the Tigers' Blake Penner. He'll be out a few games and leading scorer Tyler Wong also suffered an upper body injury when he took a hit in that same game. With a lack of forwards, the Canes called up prospect Jaeger White from Medicine Hat for this Saskatchewan road trip. No word on how long those players will be sidelined with injury. Going into the game in Regina, the Hurricanes only had 17 healthy skaters including White. Also with Sacher out, the Hurricanes recalled goalie Jonny Hogue from AHJL Drumheller to back-up Corbin Boes.

Next Up

The Hurricanes will play their final games of the season in both Prince Albert and Saskatoon this weekend. The Canes will head to PA Friday (Jan. 3) and then close out this quick trip to Saskatchewan with a game Saturday evening (Jan. 4) in Saskatoon. The Hurricanes lost both their previous games when they last visited the Raiders and Blades a few months ago. Game time both nights is 6:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30. The next home game for Lethbridge is next Wednesday (Jan. 8) when they host the Kootenay ICE.

Thanks,
Pat

6 comments:

  1. Full marks to the boys for doing what they had to do, and bending, but not breaking. BUT....

    For crying out loud, someone with more authority than I, or other fans, or the BOD, or Robson needs to tell coach B that his defensive zone "system" is NOT WORKING!

    In fact, for anyone that has a lick of hockey sense, the only thing that this "system" is is target practice for the opposing teams. It is patently obvious, still, that the boys do not know where they should be, do not know who their defensive assignments are, and what defensive responsibility each player has. It is painful to see them so obviously out of position, allowing the same opposing player to sometimes take 3 unobstructed shots, and then to look at each other with bewilderment when the opposition scores.

    This team is not near as bad as their record indicates, there are some very good players on this team, but this ridiculous "chip it off the glass and out" routine is getting tired, and is obviously not working. Coach B cannot keep preaching that they are not "playing in the system" This many games in, to be struggling defensively this way either means we have 20 guys who are incapable of learning a system, or we have a system that does not, at least for this team, work. 50 shots a game shows a severe deficiency in team defense, and that falls squarely in the coaches lap.

    The coach of the Edmonton Oilers was asked why he didn't force his players to play "his' system. he said "You can dig in you heels and say "We're going to play THIS way", but if your group is not suited to play this way, that's pretty damn stupid of the coach"

    Hmmmmm.....

    Chuck

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    1. I was very happy to see the team come out on top of the adversity it faced thanks to the injuries that have plagued them. Well done indeed.

      Chuck nails the biggest issue on the head though. Again the team gave up almost 50 shots. I know that Berehowsky and Lukowich have a lot of high level experience as defensemen so this to me is utterly unacceptable. If what you're doing isn't working, change it. It seems so damn simple. Swallow your pride for a moment, admit maybe you misjudged this one, change the systems and let us continue to see this team improve.

      -cc

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  2. I listened to Coach B in the pregame show. He used the word "system" several times. In fact it was his whole thesis. It seemed to me that he hasn't noticed a thing about what is happening on the ice this whole season. His head is somewhere else.

    Full marks for the boys playing hard under such a hardship. Great to see a good result today. No credit due to the coaching staff.

    Red Line


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  3. Take the win and get on the bus, QUICK!

    Great result with no captain Derko. No Wong. No Folk. I thought No Way. Wrong again as usual.... Perfect.

    What is going on in the world of Mitch Holmberg? Leading the WHL with 39 goals in 38 games played, and over two points a game played, he will turn 20 soon, yet still no pro contract. Anyone know why? At worst, an NHL club would have an immediate impact player for their AHL/ECHL affiliate!

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  4. Oh and I was watching the video highlights of the goals in the Medicine Hat game. They were taken from the hometown commentary of course. The play by play guy didn't seem to know the names of any of the Hurricane's players, at least they were never mentioned. This highlighted to me the amazing ability of Pat to identify players from both teams in the instant. There was a complaint a few weeks ago that Pat and Fred sometimes wander off the reservation during a game, talking about other things while the play goes on, and I think there has been good response to that concern. It's sure nice to know who is on the ice in given situations. Thanks for the great effort Pat.

    Red Line

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  5. With the injury situation, the fact that the Canes will not make the playoffs this season and the apparent abundance of Dmen, seems logical that the GM needs to make some kind of move on or before 10Jan, specially if he wants to be competitive the last half of this season. If Derko is long term or out for the remainder of the season, he needs to turn a Dman into a good forward or two...interesting to see how it unfolds?

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