Raiders 4 & Hurricanes 3

The Lethbridge Hurricanes can thank goalie Stuart Skinner for giving them a fighting chance in what turned out to be a 4-3 loss in Prince Albert Saturday night.

The game was not as close as the score indicated, but Skinner was simply outstanding between the pipes as the Canes were out shot 59-24 on the night.

The Raiders were all over the Canes right from the start in this one. P.A. opened the scoring at 9:42 of the first period when Matteo Gennaro scored to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Before the end of the period Prince Albert struck again, this time a goal from Dylan Stewart. That made it 2-0 after one period of play.

In the second period, despite being out shot 22-8, the Hurricanes fought their way back into the game. Giorgio Estephan scored his first of two in the game and 19th of the season to cut the P.A. lead to 2-1 on a power play. Then another power play goal, this one by Johnny Wesley, his 6th of the season tied the score at 2-2. Just over a minute after that, the Hurricanes took the lead for the first time. Giorgio Estephan scoring his second of the night and 20th this season to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead. That was three goals on just 8 shots in the period for the Hurricanes. The Raiders tied the score before the end of the period thanks to a power play goal from Reid Gardiner. That evened things at 3-3 through 40 minutes of play.

In the third, the Raiders regained the lead when Gardiner scored again on the power play. That gave Prince Albert a 4-3 lead. The Canes tried to claw their way back again, but it wouldn't happen as they would fall one goal short, losing 4-3.

The loss drops their overall record to 20-37-5-3 in 65 games. Again, Skinner was simply incredible in goal which gave the Hurricanes a chance all night long. Both teams finished the game 2/4 on the power play.

The Hurricanes are down their final seven games in the season. They play in Cranbrook Tuesday (Mar. 10) as they take on the Kootenay ICE. They return home Friday (Mar. 13) to host the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Thanks,
Pat