Hurricanes Lose 4-2 in Prince George

PRINCE GEORGE, BC - Three goals on 7 shots in the third period blew the game open as the Prince George Cougars beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2 Saturday night at the CN Centre.

It wasn't as quick a start for the Hurricanes in the remtach against the Cougars. The game stayed scoreless until the late stages of the period, when Daulton Siwak lifted the puck over Damien Ketlo, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Lethbridge had some great scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, but Drew Owsley was solid in goal for PG, as the Canes out shot the Cougars 13-9.

In the second, the Hurricanes would press to get the tying goal, but just like the first period, they couldn't find a way to get the puck by Drew Owsley. The PG goaltender skunked the Hurricanes for a second straight period. At the other end, it was a good period for Lethbridge goal Damien Ketlo. He stopped at 11 shots he faced to keep the score 1-0 Prince George after 40 minutes. The Hurricanes held a slight edge in shots, 23-20.

In the third, the Hurricanes would finally tie the game with Brady Ramsey scoring his 16th of the season. That evened things up early at 1-1, but after that it was all Prince George. The Cougars would score three goals, one of those on the power play to jump ahead 4-1. Jordan Tkatch, Jesse Forsberg, and Jake Mykitiuk all scored for Prince George, with two of those goals just over a minute apart. That was the difference. In fact, PG scored 3 goals on just 7 shots in the 3rd period. Lethbridge scored one more before the game ended, when Jay Merkley notched his 8th of season on the power play with less than a minute left to cut the lead to 4-2 and that's the way the game would end. Lethbridge out shot the Cougars 41-27, but Drew Owsley was very good in the Cougars' goal in this one as was given the first star in the game. Prince George went 1/5 on the power play and Lethbridge finished the night 1/2. The loss dropped the Canes road record to 4-17-0-1.

Assistant Coach Chris Chisamore wasn't happy on the CJOC post game show saying it's frustrating to come all this way, hammer nearly 100 shots combined in two games at the Cougars goal and have nothing to show for it. He's hoping for a better result next week in Vancouver.

The Hurricanes played without the services of Graham Hood Saturday night. Hood has had an elbow problem for the last few weeks and sat out the second game in PG. Damien Ketlo, despite being pulled during Friday's 6-3 to the Cougars, started his 13th straight game in goal for Lethbridge Saturday night.

Congratulations to former Hurricanes Captain Cam Braes who scored his 100th career WHL goal Saturday for the Moose Jaw Warriors in Medicine Hat. Braes also recorded one assist, but the Warriors lost 6-3 to the Tigers.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes will have the next two days off as they make their way to the lower mainland for the next leg of this BC road trip. They'll settle in for a couple of days in Vancouver and will play the Giants there on Tuesday night (Jan. 17). The Canes beat the Giants at Pacific Coliseum a month ago, ending a 7 year winless drought against Vancouver. They'll be looking to make it two for two against the Giants this season. Game time is 8:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30. Lethbridge will then head to Kamloops Wednesday (Jan. 18) and Kelowna Friday (Jan. 20) before returning to southern Alberta.

Thanks,
Pat