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Eastern Conference Final squared-up as Hurricanes fall 3-2 in overtime

Apr 23, 2017 | 12:03 AM

REGINA – The rollercoaster ride that is the Lethbridge Hurricanes post-season run took some more twists and turns Saturday night (Apr. 22), in a game that saw the Regina Pats tie the Eastern Conference final at one win apiece, with a 3-2 win in overtime.

The winner came with 2:55 remaining in the extra frame, as Pats’ captain Adam Brooks collected a heads-up pass from teammate Sergey Zborovskiy while stationed all alone just off to the side of the Hurricanes’ net, and fired a quick wrister into the gaping cage.

Frankly though, it was incredible that the ‘Canes made it into overtime in the first place, as the game was thoroughly dominated by the Pats for about 45 minutes, something Lethbridge coach Brent Kisio acknowledged after the loss.

“I thought obviously the first two periods – even half of the third period there – [the Pats] were outplaying us, they were moving their feet, you could see their desperation, their urgency. We didn’t have it there,” said Kisio, who added that they were only able to hang on thanks to the stellar play of their goaltender, Stuart Skinner.

“He kept us in, they could have had three or four goals if it wasn’t for the goalie we had in net tonight, so he gave us a chance.”

From the drop of the puck it was clear that Regina had found another level from the night before, where they outshot Lethbridge, but never really took control of the game.

After peppering Skinner early but failing to find a hole, the Pats’ Jeff de Witt would sneak one through on a deflection midway through the first. That would be it though until the third, as the red-hot Hurricanes’ netminder stood on his head.

Following two periods that saw them outshot 26-11, the Hurricanes finally woke up in the third, and seemed poised to tie things up on a Regina penalty seven minutes into the period. Instead, they gave up a shorthanded breakaway goal to Austin Wagner – his second goal in two games – making the win look all but certain for the Pats.

Having battled back from adversity throughout this post-season though, the goal actually appeared to fire up the visitors, who got their first of the night exactly two minutes later off a hard wrist shot from Zane Franklin. Just 33-seconds after that, Alec Baer carried the puck to the front of the net and Jordy Bellerive cashed in on a rebound during the ensuing scramble to even the score 2-2.

The Hurricanes continued to control play through the remainder of regulation – with Bellerive and Baer both coming close a few minutes later – but the Pats would again start to turn the tide in overtime, leading up to the game winner from Brooks.

Having come so close to taking a 2-0 series lead on the road, Kisio did make a point of noting that there were some positives to draw on moving forward.

“I thought it was a gutsy kind of effort to get back in the game, considering how we had played,” explained Kisio.

“We’re going to have to clean some things up for sure, but we came here wanting a split, we got a split, obviously it wasn’t the result we wanted tonight, but we’re in a pretty good spot heading home.”

That home date is set for Tuesday night (Apr. 25) at the ENMAX Centre.