Raiders Beat Hurricanes 5-1

LETHBRIDGE - Three goals from Mark McNeill lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 5-1 win over the Hurricanes Saturday night at the ENMAX Centre.

Prince Albert opened the scoring in what turned out to be a very offensively productive first period . The Raiders power play gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. Nathan Deck one-timed a low point shot, which beat Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Anderson. The Raiders weren't done there. About six minutes later, Mark McNeill put home a loose puck in front of the Lethbridge goal to give Prince Albert a 2-0 lead. Before the end of the period, P.A. would get another goal with the man advantage. Again, Mark McNeill found a loose puck after a shot from Igor Rivenko went off the crossbar. That gave P.A. a commanding 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. The Hurricanes pulled goalie Brandon Anderson after that third goal in favour of back-up Dylan Tait. Jamie Tucker was fantastic in the Raiders goal in that period, making a number of big saves. The Canes' out shot the Raiders 11-9.

In the second, the Hurricanes fans would get the goal they were waiting for. Cam Braes scored his 7th of the season just over a minute into the period to send thousands of stuffed toys flying onto the ice. That cut the P.A. lead to 3-1. After just a 10 minute delay to clean up all the stuffed animals, the game resumed. The Canes' had a few great chances to get to within one, but the Raiders would make it 4-1 when Mark McNeill was sprung free on a breakaway. He would put the puck between the legs of Tait to complete the Hatrick and give the Raiders their three goal lead back. That's the way the period would end. Despite being down 4-1, the Canes' held the edge in shots on goal through 40 minutes 24-17.

In the third, Austin Fyten skated off the ice after a knee-on-knee hit by a P.A. defenceman. Hurricanes Head Coach Rich Preston was very upset that no penalty was called on the play. The Canes' ended up getting a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. They killed that off. Austin Fyten did return to the game a few minutes later. Not too long after that, the Raiders would get another power play and that turned into another goal. James Bettauer put a shot passed Tait to give P.A. a 5-1 lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the game and that would pretty much be it. The final period was littered with penalties, most of those to the Hurricanes. Near the end of the game, Fyten dropped the gloves with P.A.'s Tyler Yaworski to try and settle the score for the hit earlier in the period. The power plays looked like this: Prince Albert was 3 for 10 and Lethbridge was 0 for 3. The final shots finished even at 33-33. With the loss the Canes' fall below the .500 mark for the first time in a number weeks. They sit with a record of 11-12-2-3 on the season for 27 points, one point better than P.A. The Hurricanes have just one victory in their passed 8 games.

Mitch Maxwell said on the CJOC post-game show that the amount of penalties the Hurricanes took against the Raiders was "unacceptable". No doubt penalties were an issue for the Canes' Saturday and have been over the last while. That non-call on the knee-on-knee hit was certainly a catalyst for the Hurricanes frustration as that period moved on. The Canes' will now have a few days off to refocus and plan for their next opponent on Tuesday.

The Hurricanes got back Graham Hood last night after he missed the passed few weeks with a shoulder injury. He was paired up Brody Sutter and Alex Kuvaev. The Canes' are still without Michael Sofillas and Reid Jackson who are nursing head injuries. Both might be back as early as next week.

Canes' in the Community

The Hurricanes will be putting some of those 2388 stuffed animals tossed onto the ice Saturday to good use very quickly. On Sunday, the Canes' Captains and overage players will be at the Chinook Regional Hospital's Pediatrics Ward at 11am to hand-deliver some of those stuffed toys. A big thanks to all those who took part in the Teddy Bear Toss Saturday as a number of local charities will benefit for weeks to come.

Next Up

The Hurricanes next action is Tuesday night when they play host to the Moose Jaw Warriors. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Warriors winning the first game in Saskatchewan about a month ago. Game time is 7:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Thanks,
Pat

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