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Hurricanes allow Oil Kings to come back in OT loss

Dec 9, 2017 | 12:06 AM

LETHBRIDGE – As missed opportunities go, this felt like a big one.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes entered Friday night’s (Dec. 8) contest on a three game winning streak against a visiting Edmonton Oil Kings club that had just one win in their last 10 games, falling to dead last in the Eastern Conference.

While the Hurricanes did turn in an impressive effort for most of the game, a third period surge and some opportunistic scoring by the visitors proved to be the difference, as the Hurricanes fell 6-5 in overtime.

The home team enjoyed a territorial advantage in the first period, outshooting Edmonton 14-8 and controlling the play for long stretches, although you wouldn’t have known it by looking at the score.

Before the game was even four minutes old, the Hurricanes were trailing 2-0, with one of Edmonton’s goals coming shorthanded. The ‘Canes fired two of their own past Edmonton goalie Travis Child, and allowed one more, sending them into the first intermission down 3-2.

The second period was almost all Lethbridge, as they scored three straight – including an impressive individual effort by Jake Elmer to split the defence and beat the netminder – putting them in front 5-3 and forcing Child to stand on his head to keep the game close.

The turning point seemed to come off an Edmonton goal with just under three minutes to play in the middle frame. Both teams looked more evenly matched in the third, with Edmonton winning considerably more foot races than they had in the first 40 minutes, and scoring the goal to tie things up and send the game to overtime. One minute into the extra time, Skinner couldn’t hold onto a puck that was directed on net, and Oil King’s forward Trey Fix-Wolansky pounced on the rebound to end the game.

In total, the Hurricanes outshot the Oil Kings 40-20.

Lethbridge will now embark on a three-game road swing before going into the Christmas break, with the next one coming Tuesday, Dec. 12, against the Saskatoon Blades.