Hurricanes Blank Hitmen 3-0 on Wednesday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes returned to the win column on Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Calgary Hitmen at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes entered with a 4-3-2-1 record in their previous ten games after earning a weekend split against the Medicine Hat Tigers last weekend. The game marked just the third meeting on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen and the first of five meetings in the final 17 outings of the regular season. Lethbridge had a slow start to the game being outshot 14-6 in the first period. Despite being outshot, the Hurricanes led 1-0 after one period as Anton Astashevich scored his seventh goal of the season – and first against his former team – on the power play with 1:15 remaining in the first period; Logan McCutcheon and Joe Arntsen earned the assists on the goal.
Lethbridge was much better in the second period doubling their shot total from the first period directing 12 shots on Ethan Buenaventura. The Hurricanes had a pair of power play opportunities in the period and cashed in on the second one when Logan Wormald banged home his team-leading 20th goal of the season finishing a centering pass from Jett Jones to make it 2-0; McCutcheon was credited with the second assist on the goal – his fourth multi-point game of the season. Calgary had a great chance late in the second period to cut the Lethbridge lead to one but Bryan Thomson stymied Oliver Tulk point-blank to keep it a 2-0 lead after two periods.
In the third period, the Hurricanes poured it on in the opening five-minutes peppering Buenaventura hitting a pair of goal posts, including a crossbar by Tyson Zimmer who made his return to the ‘Canes lineup. The Hitmen pressed to cut the Hurricanes lead in half as Calgary outshot Lethbridge 10-8 in the final frame. Calgary pulled the goaltender late in the game in hopes of mounting a come-back but Cole Shepard was able to find an empty-net goal with 14-seconds left in game to make it 3-0 Hurricanes; Noah Chadwick and Brayden Edwards were credited with the assists on the goal.
Lethbridge was outshot 36-26 in the game. The Hurricanes went 2/4 on the power play while going 5/5 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #30 Bryan Thomson (36-saves shutout)
2) ‘Canes – #2 Logan McCutcheon (2 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #10 Anton Astashevich (1 goal)
The shutout for Thomson was his second straight shutout while earning his the fourth of his career. The win for the Hurricanes improved their record to 2-0-0-1 in their last three games while lifting their home-ice record to 17-8-1-2 on the season. Lethbridge improved to 2-1-0-0 against Calgary this season while improving their overall record to 29-18-3-3 on the season.
Lethbridge welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday at 7:00pm to the ENMAX Centre. Individual game tickets can be purchased in person at the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) and online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
