GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Oil Kings in Final Meeting
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes play the final of three-games in four nights tonight at 7:00pm as they visit the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place.
The Hurricanes (34-24-3-3) enter after earning a 6-4 victory on Friday over the Calgary Hitmen at the ENMAX Centre. Six different goal scorers – including Tyson Laventure, Logan McCutcheon, Cole Shepard, Trae Wilke, Brayden Edwards and Jett Jones – scored in the win while Bryan Thomson made 26-saves. Lethbridge enters tonight with a 4-3-0-0 record in their last seven games while having posted a 14-15-2-1 record away from home this season.
The Oil Kings (9-50-4-0) enter on a three-game losing streak after dropping a 7-2 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday at Rogers Place. Ethan MacKenzie and Cole Miller scored the goals in the defeat for the Oil Kings. Edmonton enters having posted a 1-8-1-0 record in their last ten games while going 4-25-3-0 at home this season.
Tonight will be the final of six meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Oil Kings; Lethbridge has posted a 3-1-0-1 record in the three previous meetings while winning both games in Edmonton this season. Tonight’s game can be watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge, on WHL Live or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-03-18 – LET at EDM
VS. OIL KINGS: Tonight will be the final of six meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Oil Kings. The ‘Canes have posted a 3-1-0-1 record against Oil Kings this season, The Hurricanes went 2-5-0-1 in eight games against Edmonton while falling in four-straight games in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Over the last two years, Lethbridge has posted a record of 6-10-1-2 against Edmonton. The Hurricanes have gone 44-45-4-4 all-time against the Oil Kings.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
November 19th/2022 – at Lethbridge (4-3 EDM)
December 14th/2022 – at Lethbridge (4-1 LET)
January 1st/2023 – at Edmonton (4-2 LET)
January 7th/2023 – at Lethbridge (3-2 SO EDM)
January 29th/2023 – at Edmonton (10-2 LET)
March 18th/2023 – at Edmonton
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 6th/2021 – at Lethbridge (2-1 EDM)
October 15th/2021 – at Edmonton (4-0 EDM)
November 2nd/2021 – at Edmonton (7-0 EDM)
November 26th/2021 – at Lethbridge (3-2 LET)
January 16th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-4 SO EDM)
January 30th/2022 – at Edmonton (6-0 EDM)
March 25th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-2 EDM)
March 27th/2022 – at Edmonton (5-1 LET)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (21) – Three Players
Assists (33) – Cole Shepard
Points (53) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (80) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+12) – Chase Pauls
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.919) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.62) – Bryan Thomson
WHO’S HOT:
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 3 straight games (1g-3a); 4 of 6 games (2g-3a); 8 of 15 games (6g-5a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 2 straight games (2g); 4 of 7 games (4g-1a); 10 of 16 games (6g-5a)
– Jett Jones has points in 3 of 4 games (2g-1a); 4 of 7 games (2g-2a); 31 of 52 games (17g-26a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 3 of 4 games (1g-2a); 4 of 6 games (1g-3a); 15 of 23 games (4g-13a)
– Tristan Zandee has points in 3 of 5 games (3a); 5 of 9 games (1g-5a); 7 of 12 games (2g-6a)
– Cole Shepard has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 4 of 7 games (1g-4a); 14 of 23 games (7g-12a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-3a); 4 of 7 games (2g-4a); 22 of 36 games (18g-15a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 2 of 3 games (2g-1a); 3 of 6 games (2g-3a); 8 of 17 games (3g-7a)
– Blake Swetlikoff has points in 2 of 3 games (2a); 4 of 9 games (3g-4a); 19 of 32 games (12g-18a)
– Miguel Marques has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a)
– Chase Pauls has points in 2 of 4 games (1g-1a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 3 of 7 games (4a); 4 of 9 games (5a); 8 of 20 games (1g-9a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 3 of 7 games (1g-2a); 6 of 12 games (2g-4a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Chase Pauls is 5 points away from 50 career points
– Nolan Bentham is 8 points away from 50 career points
– Joe Arntsen is 2 games away from 200 career games
– Joe Arntsen is 21 points away from 100 career points
– Logan Wormald is 19 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Zimmer is 8 games away from 150 career games
– Blake Swetlikoff is 16 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 3 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 9 games away from 200 career games
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 64: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 34-24-3-3 (74 points) on the season after 64 games. The ‘Canes are 20-9-1-2 at home while posting a record of 14-15-2-1 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 30-30-2-2 after 64 contests. Lethbridge went 5-5-0-1 in February and are 3-3-0-0 in March.
Clinched: The Hurricanes have officially clinched a berth in the 2023 WHL Playoffs. It marks the seventh straight season that the ‘Canes have qualified for the WHL post-season, marking a new franchise record for consecutive playoff appearances. Lethbridge currently sits fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Central Heavy: Lethbridge has four games remaining in the 2022-2023 regular season, all of which will be played against Central Division opponents. The Hurricanes will face the Red Deer Rebels twice while Calgary Hitmen and Edmonton Oil Kings each once. The ‘Canes are 18-9-1-2 against the division.
30+ Wins: Lethbridge earned their 30th victory of the season on Friday, February 17th against the Brandon Wheat Kings marking the seventh consecutive season (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have record 30-or-more victories in a year. The seven straight years in the longest stretch in Hurricanes history with 30+ wins – previous long was five years from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
4 x 20: The Hurricanes enter play tonight with four players to reach the 20-goal mark as Logan Wormald, Jett Jones and Tyson Laventure all have 21-goals while Cole Shepard has 20 on the season. Tyson Zimmer sits with 17 on the year while Blake Swetlikoff with 14. Last season, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals. It’s the first time since 2019-2020 season that the ‘Canes have four-or-more 20-goal scorers; that year the ‘Canes had five reach the 20-goal mark.
Strong PK: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have allowed just 20 power play goals against in their last 32 games having killed 98-of-118 penalties taken in that span for a kill rate of 83.1%. The ‘Canes have not allowed a power play goal against in 18 of their last 32 outings. Lethbridge sits ninth in the WHL in penalty kill percentage this season while holding the second-best home PK in the league.
Third All-Time: Overage netminder Bryan Thomson sits third all-time in victories in Hurricanes history with 57 career wins; surpassing Ryan Hoople for sole-possession of third all-time with 56 victories on Friday against the Hitmen. Thomson is just one win shy of Logan Koopmans who sits second all-time with 58 wins in a ‘Canes uniform– Stuart Skinner is the all-time leader with 88 victories. Thomson is also fifth all-time in games played with 113 appearances.
Faceoff King: Jett Jones enters tonight as the WHL leader in faceoffs taken this season with 1,526 draws taken, averaging 23.8 draws per game. Jones has won 20+ faceoffs in a game four times this season, becoming the first Hurricanes centre-man to accomplish that feat on four occasions since the WHL began tracking faceoffs in 2017, surpassing Jake Leschyshyn and Giorgio Estephan – who both did it twice.
