MOOSE JAW, SK. - The Lethbridge Hurricanes found their way back into win column and Jay Merkley found the back of the net twice in a 4-1 victory in Moose Jaw Monday afternoon.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes would open the scoring in this afternoon contest in Moose Jaw. Lenny Hackman's point shot was redirected perfectly by Brady Ramsay, who beat partially screened Justin Paulic to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead. Moose Jaw had a few good scoring chances too, but Ty Rimmer was able to shut the door and keep them off the score sheet. The Canes took the 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes. The Warriors out shot the Hurricanes 11-7.
In the second, the Canes would add to their lead. Dan Johnston hammered a shot from the point, through a crowd of traffic to make it 2-0 Lethbridge. That was Johnston's 6th goal of the season and gave the Canes some breathing room in this game. The Hurricanes weren't done there. Jay Merkley got in on the action when he snapped home his 10th of the season off a nice pass from behind the goal from Craig Leverton. That made it 3-0 Hurricanes. Things got really chippy later on when Moose Jaw's Spencer Morse smoked Tyler Wong with a high hit and then a few minutes later Travis Brown laid out Jaimen Yakubowski with an elbow to the head. Brown was given a 5 minute major for checking to the head and a game misconduct. Lethbridge took a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes. The Warriors held the edge in shots 23-14.
In the third, Jay Merkley would score his second goal of the afternoon on a 4-on-1 rush on the power play. The puck went off his skate and in and after a video review, the goal counted and the Canes would take a commanding 4-0 lead. Moose Jaw would break Ty Rimmer's shut out bid, when Bryson Gore tipped a pass by Rimmer to break his shutout bid and cut the Canes lead to 4-1. That's as close as the Warriors would get in this one as the Canes would win their 13th game of the season. Lethbridge went 1/4 on the power play and Moose Jaw 0/5. The Warriors out shot the Hurricanes 35-23.
The victory puts the Hurricanes back to 5 games over .500 at 13-8-1-1 on the season for 28 points, moving them into a second place tie with Prince Albert in the Eastern Conference.
NEXT UP
The Hurricanes head back home now for their next three games. On Friday, it'll be a match up of two of the top teams in the WHL's Eastern Conference as the Prince Albert Raiders come to town. These two teams haven't played since October 9th in Lethbridge when the Raiders won 4-1. That was before the Hurricanes turned their season around. The Raiders got off to a strong start this year and have been able to maintain that, for the most part, keeping them right near the top of the standings. This should be a good battle. Game time is 7:00 pm (MST). The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. Lethbridge will welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday night and next Tuesday (Nov. 20) the Calgary Hitmen come to town for the first time this season.
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.
Rimmer is the best goalie the league has seen in years. He can win games on his own. Reminds me of Carrie Price but may be even better in the end...NHL bound!!! He makes the entire team confident and he make Preston look like a genius. League MVP no question about it.
ReplyDeleteGreat road win....Rimmer played great again but boys got some production. At 74 goals the Canes are second in the Eastern division in goals scored so it really is a team effort. PA will be agreat test this weekend!
ReplyDeleteGreat bounce-back after the shut-out in Regina... and a win in Moose Jaw by a team having a team name starting with anything other than "Moose" is a rare thing!
ReplyDeleteRe: Rimmer: Don't know about "best the league has seen in years..." but he sure has been fun to watch!
As proven in Regina, not having Rimmer in net changes so many things about the way this team plays.... If they are going to continue to give up the number of shots that they have been, then better hope and pray that Rimmer stays healthy the rest of the year.
I hope C-Tai is watching him VERY closely and willing/able to apply as much as he can from Rimmer to his own game and development.
Looks like it was a good showing for the very talented Kolten Olenyk in what was probably a VERY limited experience off the bench. I Look forward to him with the Canes next year. - Richie.
Anon at 4:43 PM
ReplyDeleteI know you are excited about a good season, but League MVP?? Rimmer is sitting in 11th place of WHL goalies and has played one game more than his counterpart from Tri City Eric Comrie who is sitting in 5th place at 17 years old. Not taking anything away from Rimmer, as he is good, but he should be at 20 years old.
GREAT win boys! Loved listening to the game while working today!
ReplyDeleteI want to see some suspensions to Moose Jaw players as quickly as the end of the week!! What a joke!
I'd say Rimmer is one of the top 3 goalies in the league along with Comrie. (Maybe throw in the Flame draft pick from Edmonton and Driedger from Calgary). Can't believe he's a free agent!
@Anon 10:30....you need to understand how to read stats!! Check the number of SVS Rimmer has made and then get back to us. Top 3 bar none!
Darren
Darren
Nice road win! Rimmer was good but as for Richie and others who think Rimmer is the only player keeping the Canes winning, I have some news for you that is the way you win in hockey from the back end out and all the top teams are like that. Calgary played their back up last night and guess what lost 4-0 to Kootenay! Here are the back up goalie win-loss records of some of the top teams in the WHL:
ReplyDeleteCalgary - 3-2
Edmonton - 4-3
Prince Albert - 1-1
Portland - 4-3
Rimmer is playing exactly how Canes had hoped he would play but as someone else mentioned Canes have also scored a lot of goals in front of him which we have not seen in a long time!
The bigger concern is finding a 4th line forward given the injuries. Sounded like Olenyk played well, Harper has played 9 games for the Canes on the 4th line and the Canes are 2 wins and 7 losses. 7 of 8 losses with him in he lineup because the 4 th line instantly becomes a liability and it is like playing short handed every time they are out there. I am not sure what is happening with Sofillas? But with Hood out they need to fill that hole and quickly! Scott
Ty Rimmer is the top goalie in the WHL right now he has a .922 save percentage. Seimans in PA is 2nd and Comrie is 3rd. This is up to date data from sportsnet and below is the link if u want to check. The entire team is playing great hockey and Rimmer is the catalyst His play has raised the play of the whole team. The Canes are becoming a tight group of players led by league MVP candidate Ty Rimmer. Here's the link:http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/whl/stats/goalie/
ReplyDeleteDarren @ 11:31 pm
ReplyDeleteCheck out the SVS% is what rates him at his present spot. The number of shots a goalie faces and the amount that go in or are saved is how the SVS% is arrived at.
If he is facing more shots than other goalies IMA that would only mean that your D'men are not helping him out as much as they should, in blocking shots or in stopping opponents from rushing in.
I think you need to check out the WHL website Anonymous,
ReplyDeletehttp://whl.ca/stats/show/type/top_goalies/ls_season/242/subtype/1
Rimmer is 4th in save percentage at .922 behind Portland Carruth at .963 ,Lanigan Med Hat .931 Hewitt Regina .924
Your link must have been outdated. Scott
Scott those stats sure as heck mean nothing. Harper played most of those games early in the year when the whole team sucked. With Hood out and if Harper is not in the line up we have 1 forward over 200 lbs. And you sure as heck can't be serious about a 4 line guy making the team lose. Here are some other stats for you Maxwell line combined -2. Ramsey line +11. Merkley line +26. Duke line +11. I am not sure what the lines were after Hood was hurt. I was out of the country and only saw the game stats. Who was in Hoods spot? AJ
ReplyDeleteTo anon @ November 13, 2012 5:02 PM
ReplyDeleteThe rankings in that chart are based on WINS. You can click on the headers of any column and the chart will rearrange based on what stat you choose.
Sorry but I missed what happened to Hood?! Can someone update me please?
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:24 Hood broke 2 bones in his hand blocking a shot in the last home game. AJ
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:49....you don't need to explain what the stats mean dude. I've had that figured out for a few years!
ReplyDeleteBy pointing out the amount of shots Rimmer has faced is my way of saying that he's had WAY more work than Comrie or any other goalie in the league for that matter....when the Canes were slow out of the gate, Rimmer was a rock in the crease.......making him a STRONG candidate for MVP at this point of the season.