PA Raiders Defeat Hurricanes 3-1

PRINCE ALBERT, SK. - Corbin Boes was outstanding in goal for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but that wasn't enough as the Prince Albert Raiders beat the Canes 3-1 Friday night.

For the second game in a row, the Hurricanes opened the scoring on the road. Russ Maxwell with a great pass on to the stick of Brady Ramsay and he roofed the shot by Cole Cheveldave to make it 1-0 Hurricanes. That was Ramsay's 10th goal of the season, extending his point streak to four games. Before the end of the period though the Raiders would get things back to even terms. Calder Brooks, who was recently acquired in a trade with Calgary, cashed in a rebound by Corbin Boes tying the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. It was another busy period Boes between the pipes as the Raiders out shot the Hurricanes 19-9.

In the second, Corbin Boes continued putting on a show between the pipes making save after save after save. Midway through the period, the Raiders would take the lead. Right off the face-off a point shot from Mackenzie Stewart found its way past a completely screened Boes giving Prince Albert a 2-1 lead. Both team had some great chances in what was a very wide open period of hockey. The Raiders out shots the Canes 18-16 in that period and 37-25 overall through 40 minutes of play. Both goaltenders came up big for their teams in that frame, with the Raiders taking a one goal lead into the dressing room.

In the third, the Canes had their best period of the game, out shooting PA 12-9. They did everything in the final period, but score. The Hurricanes pulled the goal with 90 seconds to go. Carson Perreaux found the empty net with less than a minute left to ice the game and the Raiders would skate away with a 3-1 victory. It was anything but a defensive game. Prince Albert out shot the Hurricanes 47-37. Boes was the game's first star with another great goaltending performance. He's playing his best hockey of the season the past two weeks. The Canes went 0/2 on the power play and the Raiders were 0/3. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to 8-29-2-3 in 42 games. There are 30 games to go in the regular season.

Next Up

The Hurricanes close out this New Year's trip to Saskatchewan with a game Saturday night (Jan. 4) in Saskatoon against the Blades. The teams have split the first two meetings, each winning at home. Game time is 6:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30. The Canes will return home for their next 4 games starting Wednesday, January 8th against the Kootenay ICE. I'll be away for a family engagement that day so Fred Jack will take the play-by-play reigns for that game. I'll return Friday (Jan. 10) when the Hurricanes host the WHL's best team, the Kelowna Rockets. During the 4 game home stand, the Canes will also host Edmonton (Jan. 11) and the Medicine Hat Tigers (Jan, 14). After that, it's back on the road for a 5 game trip which starts in Red Deer (Jan. 18) and finishes in Kelowna (Jan. 25).

Thanks,
Pat