LETHBRIDGE - The Hurricanes let a 3-0 lead slip away, but still held on for a 4-3 shoot out win Friday night against the Red Deer Rebels at the ENMAX Centre.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes would jump out of the gate strong in this hockey game. 13 minutes into the game, the Canes would open the scoring. Phil Tot threw the puck out from the corner and it beat Rebels goalies Patrik Bartosak to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead. That was Tot's 2nd goal of the season. That would be all the offence. The Hurricanes had a very good period overall and were quite physical in that opening 20 minutes as well. Lethbridge held a slight edge in shots 11-10.
In the second, the Canes continued to roll. About six minutes in the period, Jay Merkley fired the puck at the Red Deer goal and it was tipped in by Jamal Watson for his first-ever goal in the WHL. That made it 2-0 Lethbridge. The Hurricanes nearly made it 3-0 on the power play, but Bartosak robbed Cam Braes with a great glovehand save to keep it a two-goal lead for Lethbridge. Late in the period the Canes would get one more on a delayed penalty call. Russ Maxwell tipped home a shot to make it 3-0 Lethbridge after 40 minutes. It was Maxwell's 5th of the season. Another very good period of hockey for the Canes. They held the edge in shots 27-18 through two periods and were full value for the lead.
In the third, the Rebels broke the shut out bid for Ketlo when Adam Kambeitz scored to make it a 3-1 lead for Lethbridge. Late in the period, the Rebels pulled the goalie and it paid off with two goals to tie the score. Adam Kambeitz scored his second of the night with just over a minute to go to cut the Hurricanes lead to 3-2 and then with less than a second left in the period, Kambeitz completes the hatrick, knocking the puck by Ketlo to even the score at 3-3. That goal went to video review, but it would stand, sending the game into overtime. The 5 minute O-T solved nothing, so this game would go to a shootout to decide a winner. The Hurricanes would get goals from Phil Tot and Juraj Bezuch and Damien Ketlo stood tall between the pipes as Lethbridge pulled out a 4-3 victory. The Canes out shot Red Deer 37-33 in this games. Both teams went 0/2 on the power play.
You have to give the Rebels some credit. Lethbridge had complete control of this one, until Red Deer made some nice adjustments in the last 7:01 to score three times to tie the game. On the flip side of that, the Hurricanes played maybe their best game of the season for about 55 minutes, until the Rebels turned up the heat. It just shows you can't take your foot off the gas at any point in a game in the WHL. Very aggressive and physical play was key for Lethbridge on this night. It was also Damien Ketlo's first win in goal for the Hurricanes this season.
For the first time is a while, the Hurricanes actually had to sit a couple of healthy players. Adam Henry, Craig Leverton, and Liam Liston all sat out Friday night's game. The only injury the Hurricanes have is Max Moline, who's been sidelined for several weeks with a lower body injury.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes will host the Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday night (Nov. 19). Like the Red Deer Rebels, the Canes and Oil Kings will meet three times over the next week or so. To this point, Edmonton is having it's best season since coming back into the WHL in 2007-2008. Saturday will be the second meeting of the season between the two clubs. Edmonton won the previous game in Lethbridge 5-1 back on October 11th. The Oil Kings will be back at the ENMAX Centre next Wednesday night (Nov. 23) for the final visit to Lethbridge this season. The Eastern Conference is extemely tight at the moment, especially between the top 8 teams. Edmonton currently holds down that final playoff position, but they're just a couple of points away from first place. That's how close things are.
Thanks,
Pat
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Nice to see Watson, Merkley, Bezuck, Erkamps, Tot all play very well and chip in with points. Fairly promising as they are 16, 17 and 18 year olds. I sure like how Watson is developing.
ReplyDeleteA Very Fun game to watch. As coach Chris said we need to learn to put teams away.
Those first two periods were excellent! Everyone was playing well which is what you need to win games. Rookies contributing to points, vets were digging hard and scoring too. Full team effort, hope the same effort comes out tonight too!
ReplyDeleteGreat win against a good team....Chris said we need to learn to put teams away...so do coaches ...they took off their best defense pair with 17 seconds left in the game and put out a 16 year old and a D man that struggles defensively...absolutly stunning coaching incompetence. They overcame Red Deer and their coaches so a great effort and keep it going tonight Canes! TD
ReplyDelete@ TD....Maybe the best defense pairing were gassed?
ReplyDeleteRegardless of how they got it, great win!!! I bet that feels good!
Let's see if they remember that work ethic and energy for tonight's game.
Canes never used their timeout last night justwinbaby....I have never coached more than Midget AAA and even at that level you find delay tactics or what ever it takes to make sure your best players are on the ice in the last minute of a game when you are up by one.....inexcusable...but the boys overcame!! Looking forward to another great effort tonight.
ReplyDeleteMaybe our coaching staff didnt want to give their best guys a rest? Not sure why this is all such a big deal. We won and are improving game in a out.
ReplyDeleteGreat game to watch!
ReplyDeleteI thought Hood played his best game of the year so far. He rocked several Rebels with his hitting.
Loved watching Mckechnie, Merkley, Watson, Yakubowski, EVERY shift!
The refs did a very good job in this one... FOR A CHANGE!! My hat comes off to Hamm and Stephenson!
40 minutes of relentless hockey and puck support by the Canes, followed by 20 minutes of fear and back-pedalling. Happens all the time to very good teams, so why would the Canes be the exception.
Kambeitz was a monster in the last 10 minutes as he always is against the Canes. Why isn't HE in the AHL yet?!
If the Canes could get the goaltending they got last night along with hitting a team for 60 minutes instead of 40, what would prevent them from winning 80% of their remaining games this year?? - Richie.
Let's just hope that in a months time we can look back on this game and call it the turning point of the Cane's season. Ritchie, to answer your last question, it would be lack of talent that prevents us from winning 80% of our remaining games.
ReplyDeletecome on they were lucky..they should never have let the rebels come back
ReplyDeletecb
@cc........when a team like the Rebels is that much more talented than you, it doesn't matter what you do, they impose their will on you and you just have to somehow survive. Anonymous (1:12) was bang on when he said the Canes lose due to their lack of talent. Once you understand that, it's easier to understand why the Canes are where they are (at the bottom).
ReplyDelete