Stay informed with the LNN Daily Newsletter

Cane Train derails with 8th loss in a row – 5-2 in Kamloops

Nov 18, 2017 | 11:28 PM

KAMLOOPS – After opening a five-game western road trip with a 7-4 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Friday night, the Hurricanes followed with a 5-2 loss up the road in Kamloops on Saturday night. The eighth  loss in a row puts the Canes 7-12-1 and sitting in fifth position in the Eastern Conference Wild Card.

The Blazers’ Ondrej Vala opened the game with a high sticking penalty just three minutes in, but he made up for it by sliding the puck past Stuart Skinner just seconds after leaving the penalty box, giving Kamloops an early 1-0 lead. The period ended on that score, with the Blazers leading shots-on-goal 7-5.

The second frame opened with the home team again finding their mark just shy of five minutes into play and putting the Blazers ahead 2-0.

Half way through the period the Hurricanes got the wind in their sails and Tanner Nagel charted his 2nd of the season on a power play goal assisted by Tate Olson and Egor Zudilov. The Canes followed up by killing off back-to back penalties – Egor Zudilov for tripping and Giorgio Estephan for hooking.

The second period closed with the Blazers leading 2-1 in goals and 13-9 in shots-on-goal.

The Canes capitalized on the energy of the previous period to tie the game 2-2, as Jordy Bellerive scored his tenth of season just three minutes into the third, assisted by Giorgio Estephan and Dylan Cozens.

Unfortunately, the momentum had no staying power. With less than five minutes remaining in the third, Brodi Stuart scored for the Blazers, giving them a 3-2 lead.  As the clock ticked down to 1:51 remaining, Kamloops attacked the Canes net and got another puck past Stuart Skinner, who was then pulled. In the remaining seconds, Quinn Benjafield fed Nick Chyzowski with a breakaway pass into an empty net.    

The final score was 5-2 for Kamloops.  The Hurricanes next game is in Victoria on Tuesday night.