Hitmen Double Up Hurricanes 6-3

CALGARY -The Hurricanes saw a 3-0 lead slip away as they fell 6-3 to the Calgary Hitmen Sunday afternoon at the Saddledome.

It was the Damien Ketlo show in the first period of this hockey game. The Lethbridge goalie was outstanding again as the Hitmen came out like a house on fire in this one. The Canes were under siege for the first 13 minutes and didn't register their first shots on goal until that point in the game. Lethbridge finally picked things up after that with a couple of minutes to go and would open the scoring when Phil Tot banked a shot off Bandon Glover's pad and in to give the Canes a 1-0 lead. That was Tot's 6th goal of the season. The Hurricanes took that lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes of play. Calgary held the edge in shots 14-8

It appeared that late goal gave the Hurricanes some added life because in the second they would get two more. Landon Oslanski banged home the loose puck after a scramble in front of the Hitmen goal early in the period. That was his 6th of the season and made it 2-0 Lethbridge. Three minutes after that, the Hurricanes would jump ahead 3-0. Nick Bounassisi banked a backhander off a Calgary defenceman and by Glover to give Lethbridge a power play goal and increase their lead to 3-0. The Hitmen though would battle back to make things interesting with a pair of late goals to cut the Canes lead to just one. Brady Brassart had the puck go off his leg and in, beating Ketlo on the power play to make it a 3-1 game in favour of the Lethbridge and then with just 17 seconds remaining, Calgary's Victor Rask knocked the puck out of mid air, beating Ketlo to make it 3-2 Lethbridge after 40 minutes. Those would be key goals. Calgary held the edge in shots 28-20.

In the third, the Hitmen would press to find the equalizer and they would get it and more. Just after a Lethbridge penalty had expired, Chase Clayton took a pass at the side of the Hurricanes goal and scored to even things up at 3-3. Then a few minutes later, after another Lethbridge penalty finished up, Calgary would take the lead for the first time. Brady Brassart scored his second of the afternoon on the power play to give Calgary 4-3 lead. They weren't done there either. Calgary would add two more before the game would end. Brooks Macek and Jimmy Bubnick both found the back of the net to seal the deal and in the end the final score would favour the Hitmen 6-3. Calgary would score 6 straight to erase a 3-0 deficit in this one. It was also the 5th straight win for Calgary. Damien Ketlo was busy in goal as the Hitmen out shot Lethbridge 47-24. The Canes went 1/4 on the power play and Calgary finished the game 1/8. The Hurricanes only have 4 wins in 20 games on the road this season. Assistant Coach Chris Chisamore said on the CJOC post game show he felt the Canes were one goal away from likely putting this game out of reach when they had a 3-0 lead, but they let Calgary back in and paid the price.

Assistant GM Brad Robson was on during our second intermission to talk about the trade deadline. He said there are plenty of phone calls coming in and being made. He made it clear, any deals that do happen will be made in the best interest of the future of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The deadline is Tuesday afternoon.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes will hit the road to B.C. later in the week for a 10 day trip that will take them through Prince George, Vancouver, Kamloops, and Kelowna before returning home January 25th to play Kootenay. The Canes will play the Cougars on back-to-back nights Friday (Jan 13) and Saturday (Jan. 14) in P.G. All games on this trip are 8:00 pm (MST) start times with the pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30.

HURRICANES THIS WEEK

Our first Hurricanes This Week radio show in 2012 hits the airwaves Monday night (Jan. 9) on CJOC. Fred Jack and I will be back LIVE from Average Joe's Sports Bar on 6th Street South. On the program, Hurricanes rookie forward Jaimen Yakubowski, Assistant Coach Chris Chisamore, and Dan O'Connor, the radio voice of the the Prince George Cougars. The show starts at 6:00 pm (MST) on CJOC.

Thanks,
Pat