Hurricanes Blast Oil Kings with 10 Goals
Edmonton, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued a stretch of six games in six different cities on Sunday afternoon as they earned a lopsided 10-2 victory in Edmonton over the Oil Kings at Rogers Place.
Lethbridge entered with points in eight of their last nine games having gone 4-1-3-1 in that span. The Hurricanes had a great start to the game jumping out to an early 1-0 lead as Anton Astashevich redirected a Nolan Bentham point shot to open the scoring just 2:08 into the game; Blake Swetlikoff earned the second assist on the goal. Just 29-seconds later, the ‘Canes struck again as Hayden Smith potted his seventh goal of the year – and third in his last four games – slipping one five-hole on Logan Cunningham who had his day end being replaced by Kolby Hay as Lethbridge led 2-0. The Hurricanes kept their foot on the gas as Jett Jones matched his jersey number with his 17th goal of the season on a breakaway snapping one by Hay on the first shot on goal he faced in the game. Lethbridge set a new season-high with shots in the first period outshooting Edmonton 20-6 in the opening frame.
Early in the second period, the Hurricanes added to their lead as Tyson Zimmer buried his 12th goal of the season on a partial breakaway on a power play as he made it 4-0; Jones earned the lone assist on the goal. Lethbridge scored twice in a span of 36-seconds as Miguel Marques banged home his sixth of the season at 6:35 before Cole Shepard wacked home his 17th at the 7:11 mark to put the ‘Canes ahead 6-0. A line-scrum late in the frame resulted in a four-minute power play for the Hurricanes and they made good with the extra man as Smith buried his second of the game to make it a 7-0 Lethbridge lead after forty minutes of play. The four-goal second period evened a season-high for goals in a period while matching a game-high seven after two periods. Lethbridge outshot Edmonton 15-7 in the middle frame.
The Hurricanes continued their offensive push in the third period as Zimmer buried a back-door feed from Astashevich to make it 7-0 just 5:28 into the frame; Tristen Doyle earned the second assist. Just under three-minutes later, Smith completed his first WHL hat-trick with a power play goal snapping one low blocker on Kolby Hay to make it 8-0; Shepard was credited with the lone assist on the tally. The ‘Canes added another power play goal when Bentham let fly from the blueline and was able to beat a screened Hay to put the Hurricanes into double-digits with a 10-0 lead. Edmonton broke Harrison Meneghin’s shutout bid when Mason Finley snapped home his seventh of the season before Noah Boyko rounded out the scoring with a bank-shot for his 13th of the season to make the final 10-2 in favour of the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 51-24 in the game. Lethbridge went 4/8 on the power play while going 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Three stars of the game were:
1) ‘Canes – #22 Hayden Smith (3 goals, 1 assist)
2) ‘Canes – #10 Anton Astashevich (1 goal, 2 assists)
3) ‘Canes – #21 Tyson Zimmer (2 goals)
The 10 goals for the Hurricanes were a season-high and the first time since November of 2019 that the ‘Canes reached double digits. Lethbridge also set a season-high with four power play goals and 51-shots on goal.
The win for the Hurricanes was their second-straight win as they improved to 3-1-0-1 this season against the Oil Kings. Lethbridge improved to 5-1-3-1 in their last ten games while lifting their overall record to 26-16-3-2 on the year; ‘Canes are now 12-9-2-0 on the road this season.
The Hurricanes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Wednesday when they welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:00pm in the first of a two-game homestand. 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.
