Hurricanes Fall 5-1 in Saskatoon on Saturday
Saskatoon, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes had their two-game winning streak end on Saturday as they suffered a 5-1 loss in Saskatoon to the Blades at SaskTel Centre.
It was the final meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and Blades and their first matchup since late October. Saskatoon had a great start to the game as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Charlie Wright scored his sixth goal of the season at the 6:20 mark on the power play; Jake Chiasson and Conner Roulette earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes had a great look to tie the game when Chase Pauls was sprung on a breakaway out of the penalty box but was stymied by Blades goaltender Ethan Chadwick. Lethbridge had a late first period power play, but Saskatoon only allowed two shots on goal as the Hurricanes trailed 1-0 after one period. The Blades outshot the Hurricanes 10-5 in the first period.
After doubling the Hurricanes in shots in the first period, the Blades doubled the ‘Canes in shots in the second period as well holding a 12-6 shot advantage in the middle frame. Saskatoon added to their lead just 3:23 into the period when Chiasson beat Thomson with a backhand that hit the post and went in to make it 2-0. Blades cashed in on another power play at the 9:49 mark when Jayden Wiens finished a four-way passing play for his 15th goal of the season to make it 3-0 before Egor Sidorov rifled home his team-leading 38th goal off the rush just over three minutes later as Saskatoon held a 4-0 lead after two periods of play.
In the third period, the Blades added to their lead just 4:39 into the frame when Aiden De La Gorgendiere beat a screened Thomson for his 11th goal of the season to make it a 5-0 Saskatoon advantage; Blake Gustafson and Jordan Keller earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes had a late power play to attempt to break the shutout bid for the Ethan Chadwick but couldn’t find a goal. Lethbridge did break the Chadwick shutout bid with just 1:04 remaining when Tristen Doyle swatted home a rebound for his third goal of the year to make it 5-1; Nolan Bentham and Cole Shepard earned the assists on the goal, which was Shepard’s 100th career point.
The Hurricanes were outshot 34-20 in the game. Lethbridge went 0/3 on the power play while Saskatoon was 2/6 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game:
1) Blades – #61 Jake Chiasson (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Blades – #47 Charlie Wright (1 goal)
3) Blades – #33 Ethan Chadwick (19-saves)
The loss for the Hurricanes ended a two-game winning streak as they fell to 14-13-1-2 on the road this year. The defeat dropped the ‘Canes overall record to 32-22-3-3 on the season. Lethbridge finished the regular season with a 2-2-0-0 record against the Blades this year.
The Hurricanes will end a stretch of four-straight road games on Wednesday when they visit the Red Deer Rebels at Western Park Centrium at 7:00pm. Lethbridge will return to the ENMAX Centre on Friday, March 10th when they welcome the Regina Pats at 7:00pm.
