MEDICINE HAT - Three goals late in the second period lifted the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 4-3 come-back win against the Tigers in Medicine Hat Wednesday night.
The Medicine Hat Tigers would draw first blood in this game. About 14 minutes into the period, the Tigers would make it 1-0 with a power play goal from James Bettauer. He ripped a low point shot by Damien Ketlo to give the home side the lead. That would be the only offence in the opening 20 minutes. The Tigers outshot Lethbridge 13-8 in the first period. Ketlo was very good in goal in that period and came up with a couple of key saves in the late stages.
In the second, the Tigers would keep up the pressure. They would end up getting another power play goal. Jayden Hart tipped in a point shot over a screened Ketlo to put Medicine Hat agead 2-0. The Hurricanes would get one of the back on a power play of their. Brady Ramsey took a nice feed from Nick Buonassisi and buried behind Tyler Bunz to make it a one goal game, 2-1 Tigers. The Hurricanes would keep it coming. Jamal Waton soon after rifles a wrist shot by Bunz to even the score at 2-2 and then right after that, Sam McKenchie blasted home his 3rd of the season to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead. The Canes score three goals in a span of 2:55 to erase a two goal deficit and take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. The shots were 26-16 in favour of Medicine Hat.
In the third, the Hurricanes would get an early 5-on-3 power play and they would make good, extending their lead to 4-2. Cam Braes fired a slap shot right off the face-off into the top corner for his 12th goal of the season. That gave Lethbridge a huge two-goal lead. The Tigers though would soon after get a two-man advantage of their own. James Bettauer hammered a shot that beat Ketlo and that cut the Hurricanes lead to 4-3. Both teams' power plays were clicking in this game, scoring three times each up to this point. The Tigers would press hard to get the tying goal, but Damien Ketlo managed to shut the door the rest of the way and the Hurricanes would win the game 4-3. The Canes have now won 5 of their last 7 games. Medicine Hat out shot Lethbridge 38-27. The Hurricanes went 3/5 on the power play and the Tigers finished the night 3/5 as well. The win improves the Canes record to 8-20-0-1. Damien Ketlo was outstanding in the Hurricanes goal and was a huge reason the Hurricanes had a chance to win this game.
The Hurricanes got back defenceman Albin Blomqvist Wednesday night. He missed Tuesday's game against Red Deer with the flu. Juraj Bezuch also returned to the line-up in Medicine Hat as he missed the previous game with the flu as well. Graham Hood didn 't play against the Tigers either. He had to sit out because of supplementary discipline to be determined by the WHL on a hit he laid on Josh Cowen of the Red Deer Rebels Tuesday night. Phil Tot suffered an injury against Red Deer too and didn't play in Medicine Hat. The Hurricanes once again called up forward Reid Duke. On another note, the Hurricanes finally solved their goaltending issue. On Wednesday, the sent Tanner Kovacs to St. Albert of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. That leaves the team with Damien Ketlo and Liam Liston as the go-to guys between the pipes.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes have a couple of days off until they play host to Saskatoon Saturday night. It will be the Canes second meeting of the season against the Blades and their first game in December. On Sunday, the Spokane Chief come to town. Next week, the Hurricanes are off to B.C. to play in Kelowna, Victoria, and Vancouver.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Great heart and no give up attitude by our young team. It is so much sweeter to beat the tigers. I am going to say it again, Watson is starting to emerge. Keep it up Canes (staff and players).
ReplyDeleteYahooo way to go Canes I was at the game and chearing my head off and totally getting heckled by the Tiger fans. Really good game kept top the basics and Ketlo had great game. GO CANES GO!
ReplyDeletethis is what its all about,improvement..the canes dont have to make the playoffs this year but at least show that the team is getting better and the young talent is there.watsons goal was beautiful to say the least.
ReplyDeleteGreat game Canes!!! You guys showed a lot of heart by storming back when you were down two goals. Keep it up! GO CANES GO!
ReplyDeleteTo Pat: Will Austin Fyten play at all this season yet for the canes?
Fyten is done for the year. Unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! What a powerplay! Where did THAT come from??
ReplyDeleteIf the Canes only won TWO games all year, as long as BOTH WINS were against the Tigers IN the Medicine Hat arena... it would be a good year. It is WORTH it to hear the fans in that arena boo their own club. WORST fans in the league! They don't deserve a WHL hockey team in their pathetic city... period.
I swear that arena has an average fan IQ 40 points less than any fan base in any league in any arena in the country (unless Cane fans make the trip and sway the average sharply upward).
The over-rated BUNZ strikes again! If he is eligible/and chosen for Canada's Junior team, it may cost us the gold. I would take Ketlo over Bunz for any team anytime!
Suspending Hood for his strong hit in the RD game is ridiculous; whoever made that decision is incompetent and should be fired. - Richie.
Canes played great. Kudo to them for a well fought game. Hopefully my Tigers learned a thing or two about heart from that game.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Tiger's took notice of how well the Canes were playing coming into tonight's game. They've played with a lot more confidence the past few weeks and Watson and Merkley have really started to show their skill. As Bob said, the Watson goal was a beaut!
ReplyDeleteIt'd be nice to get Johnston back even though Braes has turned into a solid blueliner!
Ketlo still giving solid goaltending and gives them a pretty solid effort every game. Goaltending can do wonders for a team's confidence.
I see they sent Kovacs to the AJHL today. He needs playing time, so no surprise.
Pat, why do you consider this an "Upset", Canes have been playing very well for the last couple of weeks. Now that they have healthy bodies, a goaltender and several key players back from injury, and young players with some games under their belts this is what should be expected. You guys in the media all crashed on the team pretty quick and never recognized all the challenges this team was going through.
ReplyDeleteLove your postive outlook, 6:54am, but despite the recent improvement of the Canes, you can't overlook the Tigers being 16 & 10 and the Canes are 8 and 20; I am pretty sure "upset" is the right word to describe the victory.
ReplyDeleteCanes played without 5,6,17,and 23 in the lineup, and they were outshot in every period. I agree that expectations are getting higher, but don't flame Pat!
It's an upset cause the team at the bottom of the standings beat the team at the top! Pat didn't say Lethbridge sucks. It is what it is!!
ReplyDeleteThe reason I used the term "upset" is simply because of where these team are in the standings. When a team near the bottom beats a team near the top, to me that's an upset. It's not taking anything at all away from the way this Lethbridge team has played as of late, cause they've deserved each one of those wins. It's great to see this group getting things together.
ReplyDeleteI think what 6:54 am MEANT to say is
ReplyDeleteGO CANES GO!!!!!
Peter
So glad they got the win. So glad they didn't sit back in the third and only play defensive. So glad the lines kept rolling. So glad something changed! So glad they are getting more confident. So glad they get to have some fun, finally! And hope it continues!
ReplyDelete