By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Hurricanes extend point streak to six games with win over Cougars

Jan 19, 2018 | 10:20 PM

LETHBRIDGE – “We feel we’ve got the people in our dressing room to continue to compete and do well within our division, with lots of room for growth. Our kids are going to play down the stretch, and we feel we’ve still got strong goaltending.”

Turns out Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt wasn’t just trying to boost the morale of his club, shortly after dealing away a handful of players – including their captain and No. 1 goaltender – at the WHL trade deadline, Jan. 10.

To this point, things really couldn’t be going better.

Friday night, Jan. 19, the Hurricanes beat up on the Prince George Cougars 6-2, giving them five wins in six games and points in six straight since they traded Giorgio Estephan, Stuart Skinner and Tanner Nagel to Swift Current in a blockbuster exchange.

Owen Blocker – acquired in the Swift Current deal – opened the scoring for the visiting ‘Canes, picking up his second goal of the season five minutes in. Josh Curtis responded three minutes later for the Cougars to close out the scoring in the period.

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The second would feature on offensive onslaught from Lethbridge, started by new captain Jordy Bellerive 1:46 into the frame. Just over two minutes after that, Brad Morrison – picked up from Vancouver for Brennan Riddle ahead of the deadline – found the back of the net, followed by Jake Elmer just 25 seconds later, extending the lead to 4-1.

Curtis managed to beat Hurricanes starter Logan Flodell with his second of the night, but Bellerive responded with his second of the evening 34 seconds after that to pretty much put the nail in the coffin.

Bellerive completed the hat trick late in the third, registering his 29th goal of the season.

The six game point streak now has Lethbridge just four points behind Medicine Hat for top spot in the Central Division, and has given them a five point cushion over third place Kootenay. The Hurricanes have a chance to build on that – and the Cougars get a chance at revenge – when the two teams meet again Saturday night, again in Prince George.

It is only fair to note that since the big trade, Swift Current and the players they acquired haven’t been doing too badly themselves. Skinner has guided the team to four straight wins with a sparkling .947 save percentage, while Estephan has picked up five points and Nagel has chipped in two goals.

Things keep up like this, and their Feb. 2 meeting at the ENMAX Centre could be must-see hockey.

Fingers crossed.