Big Third Lifts Hurricanes Over Blades
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes earned their third straight victory on Wednesday with a 6-1 win over the Saskatoon Blades at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes had a great first period outshooting the Blades 14-6 in the frame. Saskatoon had a great chance shorthanded early when Kyle Crnkovic tapped a puck toward a gaping net but Bryan Thomson dove across to grab the puck on the goal line. Lethbridge peppered all-time WHL wins leader Nolan Maier in the opening frame but couldn’t solve the netminder as the game was scoreless after twenty minutes of play.
The second period, the Hurricanes were outshot 7-6 in the frame. Lethbridge had a great chance to open the scoring midway through the period when Joe Arntsen ripped one off the crossbar. The ‘Canes had another great look late in the period when Jett Jones was stymied point-blank by Maier on a back-hand to keep the game scoreless after two periods.
The offense exploded in the third period as the Hurricanes struck just 1:44 into the frame when Arntsen ripped home his sixth of the season to make it 1-0; Alex Thacker and Justin Hall earned the assists. Just 32-seconds later, the ‘Canes struck again as Logan McCutcheon snapped home his fourth off a faceoff to make it 2-0. The ‘Canes added another on a beautiful goal by Logan Wormald to extend his point streak to six-straight games sniping home his 12th of the season; Arntsen and Miguel Marques were credited with the assists. Saskatoon answered back at the 10:51 mark when affiliate player Jordan Keller banged home his first WHL goal to make it 3-1. Just under three minutes later, Arntsen struck again for his second of the period restore the ‘Canes three-goal lead. The Blades pulled the goaltender with over four minutes remaining in hopes of mounting a comeback but Chase Pauls found the empty-net to make it a 5-1 game – for Pauls, his seventh goal over his last 11 games. Before the game was over, Brayden Edwards went coast-to-coast before deking out Maier to slip home his seventh of the year to make it a 6-1 final.
The Hurricanes outshot the Blades 17-11 in the third period while holding the edge 37-24 in the game. Lethbridge went 0/1 on the power play while going 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #7 Joe Arntsen (2 goals, 1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #9 Justin Hall (3 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #30 Bryan Thomson (23-saves)
The win for the ‘Canes improved their record to 30-30-3-1 on the season as they remain seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hurricanes have now won three-straight games scoring six goals in all three contests. Lethbridge improves to 16-13-2-1 on the season at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes visit the Red Deer Rebels on Friday at 7:00pm before returning to welcome the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre or the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
