CRANBROOK, B.C. - Jacob Berglund scored the only goal through five rounds of a shootout as the Lethbridge Hurricanes came back to beat the Kootenay ICE 4-3 last night.
The ICE got off to a quick start in this one. Just 18 seconds in, Joe Antilla beat Brandon Anderson on the first shot of the game to give Kootenay at 1-0 early. The Canes' bounced back with one of their own about seven minutes later. Russ Maxwell scored his first-ever WHL goal when he made a nice move and put the puck upstairs on ICE goalie Nathan Lieuwen to tie the game 1-1. The ICE would get that one goal lead back before the end of the period. Max Reinhart threw the puck at the Lethbridge goal. It went off someone out in front and passed Anderson to give Kootenay a 2-1 lead. That's the way the period end. The Hurricanes out shot Kootenay 10-9 in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second, the Hurricanes would tie the score at 2-2. The Canes' caught the ICE on a bad line change and made them pay. Graham Hood scored for the Hurricanes to even the game. Lethbridge later on had a glorious chance to go ahead on back-to-back 5-on-3 power plays, but they were unable to score as their power play continues to have issues finding the back of the net. The Canes' out shot Kootenay 12-8 in the period and held the edge 22-17 through 40 minutes.
In the third, Lethbridge would grab the lead for the first time. Max Ross scored off a rebound to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead. It stayed that way till late in the game when Kootenay pulled the goalie and Kevin King managed to tie the game with less than a minute left, sending the game into extra time. The overtime solved nothing, so for the 6th time this season, the Hurricanes would have go to a shootout to settle things. The only goal scored for either team came off the stick of Jacob Berglund. The Hurricanes came back for a 4-3 victory and once again go one game above .500 at 7-6-0-3 on the season. The Canes' are now 3-3 in shootouts this season. Kootenay out shot Lethbridge 33-29 on the night. The power plays for both teams were unable to score. The Canes' went 0/5 while the ICE finished the night 0/3.
Overall, it was a very entertaining game to watch. The Hurricanes, I thought were very deserving of the win. Both teams battled hard and really, it could've went either way. It was a big win for this team as they needed to rebound from a lop-sided 7-0 loss in Medicine Hat a few nights before. Brandon Anderson had a solid game in goal and stopped all five shots he faced in the shootout. Neil Tarnasky was a last minute scratch for Lethbridge last night. He had a very strong game versus the Tigers on Wednesday, but sat the game out due to a minor ankle injury.
Third Jersey Unveiling
As mentioned in the post below, the Hurricanes will unveil their new third jersey next week. They'll wear it for the first time on Wednesday when they host Calgary and will also sport the new look every Friday when they hit the ice for a game. The jersey will go back to one of the team's original colours, which is Cardinal Red, similar to the red being used by the NHL's Washington Capitals. The new jersey is being released in conjunction with Remembrance Day as the Hurricanes will honour the Canadian Armed Forces prior to the Wednesday night's puck drop. On Monday, the team will unveil the new third jersey at the Lethbridge Armoury, next to the County Airport.
Next Up
The Hurricanes busy stretch this weekend will continue tonight back at home when they play host to the visiting Kamloops Blazers. This will be the first of three meetings this season between the Canes' and Blazers. Kamloops will make another trip into Lethbridge in late February and the Hurricanes will head to Kamloops in early March. The Blazers, like the Canes' have been a .500 hockey team this season and have played much better on the road than at home. Note the start time for tonight's game. The puck will drop at 7:30pm (MDT) from the ENMAX Centre, a half-hour later than usual. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:00 with myself and Fred Jack. That game was originally scheduled to start at 7:30 because of an Oldtimers Hockey Tournament that was supposed to be held at the ENMAX Centre. The Hurricanes will host Medicine Hat on Sunday (6:00pm MST).
Thanks,
Pat
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Now this should prove interesting. Canes get clawed to bits by the Tigers and this blog goes wild with 17 comments, most of them knocking the Canes, Preston and the water boys. The Hurricanes go into Cranbrook, beat the number 2 team in the East (one less win than Sask). In fact the Ice had to come back in the third to tie the game. Before the Canes won in a shootout. Canes are back over the .500 mark and sit in 6th place. Obviously a total team effort! Vets got the message.
ReplyDeleteSo how many negative comments will fill this page?
RJS
Great job Canes! See what can happen when the boys actually put the puck on the net! Too bad the PP still can't click...
ReplyDeleteDo you think that is society in general? Only time you hear from the general public is when they complain. You never hear anything good in the newspapers it all pretty negative stuff. When was the last time you heard or saw an article about a terrific job or a terrific person from City Hall? But wow the papers were full of a lot of negativity over the last couple of years. Most of it all deserving of course, but I am saying folks just never get on a band wagon about good things. And that is a sad, sad thing.
ReplyDeleteNot sure it was one of the better games the Canes have had. Better than the Med Hat game, and they did win although Kootenay was down several key players. Still too many sloppy plays. The team looks slow and lazy compared to the opposing teams. Maybe some good old speed skating would get the quickness into their step. I think the 'C'should be transferred to someone who actually is a leader as I am not sold on Reddington and what his leadership skills are.
Thanks Pat for the game last night. I couldn't watch it, but was listening to your call of it and it sounded terrific. Today I watched parts of the archived game, and the announcers at Kootenay had no idea what was going on half the time. Being opposing team announcers, they never once made comment as to Preston/ Kabby terrorizing the refs and they no clue as to some penalties and what happened. I am coming to the conclusion, listening or watching a TV game is only as good as the announcers, as you are limited to what you see. The camera man from Kootenay is real bad. Misses half of the plays and is more interested in showing off their time clock than the players, bench, coaches or after whistle tussles. I got more content of what happened at the game listening to it last night, than watching it today.