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Hurricanes lose fifth in a row to open three game road trip

Nov 19, 2016 | 12:59 AM

SEATTLE – The fall down the standings continued for the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday night (Nov. 18) in Seattle, as they dropped their fifth straight decision, losing 4-3 to the Thunderbirds.

Hurricanes netminder Stuart Skinner was acknowledged as the third star of the game, keeping his club in the contest, despite being badly outshot 39-21.

Just 1:35 into the game, Alexander True scored his first of three goals. While the Hurricanes would tie things up later in the first, Seattle responded just 21 seconds later to retake the lead. That would be repeated in the third period, as Jordy Bellerive scored 1:46 into the final frame, only to see True complete the hat-trick with the game winner just over a minute later.

The failure to win on the road is becoming part of a trend 21 games into the season, as the Canes hold an unenviable 2-6-0-2 record away from the Enmax Centre and 5-5-1-0 when on home ice.

Those challenges are reflected when you look at goal scoring home and away. In front of their fans the Hurricanes have kept things even, scoring 37 goals and giving up 37. On the road it is a very different story, as they have only managed to find the back of the net 26 times, while the opposition has buried 48.

The loss was the team’s eighth in their last 10 games, a slide which has them sitting third in the Eastern Conference wildcard race, eight points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings. The good news for the Canes is that the Edmonton Oil Kings – who hold the third spot in the Central Division – are only three points up.

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, things will definitely not be getting any easier in their next game. Their current road trip – which sees them play three games in three days – takes them to Everett to face the Silver Tips on Saturday (Nov. 19), a club that is second in the Western Hockey League with 15 wins in 21 games.

While they will likely being running on fumes by Sunday (Nov. 20), they should get a bit of a break, as the Portland Winterhawks have only one win in their last 10 games.