Hurricanes Doubled by Pats 4-2 on Monday
Regina, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a two-game road trip on Monday afternoon with a 4-2 loss to the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre.
It was the third meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and Pats who had split a pair of games on the year. Regina had a good start to the contest holding the bulk of the play inside the Lethbridge zone, but the Hurricanes did a good job keeping the Pats to the perimeter. The ‘Canes were assessed a tripping penalty to Blake Swetlikoff which saw the Pats go to the man-advantage but Regina couldn’t solve Harrison Meneghin – who made his 34th start of the season. Lethbridge had a few good looks to open the scoring, the best a point-blank chance by Nolan Bentham which was turned aside by Drew Sim. Shots favoured the Hurricanes 11-9 in the first period which was scoreless after twenty minutes.
The teams opened it up in the second period which saw the Hurricanes outshoot the Pats 13-12. Lethbridge opened the scoring at the 4:22 when Jett Jones stripped Luke Bateman before ripping his 19th goal of the season off the post-and-in to make it 1-0; Tyson Zimmer was credited with the lone assist on the goal. Just 22-seconds later, the Pats tied the game off the rush when Stanislav Svozil took a Connor Bedard drop pass and ripped home his seventh goal of the season to make it a 1-1 game. The Hurricanes pulled back ahead as Brayden Edwards struck for the second-straight game rifling home his sixth of the season off the rush to make it a 2-1 Lethbridge lead; Logan Wormald and Miguel Marques earned the assists on the goal. The lead, however, once again short-lived as on a late period power play the Pats tied the game with a goal by Sam Oremba to make it 2-2 after two periods.
In the third, the Pats pulled ahead scoring on the first shift just 16-seconds into the frame as Tanner Howe finished on a one-timer from Svozil to make it 3-2 Regina; Bedard earned the second assist on the goal. The Hurricanes had their lone power play opportunity when Howe was assessed a delay of game penalty. Despite a pair of good chances, the ‘Canes failed to draw even with the extra man. Regina added to their lead at the 10:26 mark when Zane Rowan cashed in his fourth goal of the season to make it a 4-2 lead. Lethbridge pulled the goaltender late in the game but couldn’t muster a come-back suffering their second-straight defeat to the Pats.
Lethbridge was outshot 10-9 in the third period and 34-30 in the game. The Hurricanes went 0/1 with the power play while the Pats were 1/2 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Pats – #11 Stanislav Svozil (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Pats – #33 Drew Sim (28-saves)
3) Pats – #25 Zane Rowan (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended their four-game point streak as they suffered their first regulation loss in their five games, now going 3-1-0-1 in that span. The defeat dropped the ‘Canes record to 1-2-0-0 against Regina this season while their overall record falls to 30-19-3-3 on the season.
Lethbridge will end a two-game Saskatchewan-road trip on Tuesday when they visit the Moose Jaw Warriors at 6:00pm MT at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. The Hurricanes will return to the ENMAX Centre on Friday, February 24th when they host the Kamloops Blazers at 7:00pm. 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.
