By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Rebels hand Hurricanes fourth straight loss

Mar 10, 2018 | 12:01 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The losing skid for the Lethbridge Hurricanes reached four games Friday night, Mar. 9, as they fell 4-1 to the Red Deer Rebels.

The Hurricanes were the ones to get things started at the ENMAX Centre in the first period, as Dylan Cozens fired a cross-ice pass to Calen Addison who was sneaking in from the point, and he buried it for his 9th goal and 61st point of the season.

It was all Rebels from that point on, though.

Kristian Reichel evened the score before the end of the first, and Red Deer proceeded to pull ahead 2-1 as Brandon Hagel beat ‘Canes netminder Logan Flodell on a short-handed breakaway early in the second.

Lethbridge would get their chances in the third to tie things up, but Riley Lamb slammed the door in the Rebels’ net. Then, midway through the final period, Mason McCarty scored a power-play goal during a goal mouth scramble to extend the visitor’s lead to 3-1. McCarty would add an empty netter with just over a minute to go to end the scoring for the evening.

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While it’s never a good thing to be skidding at this time of year, the good news is that the Hurricanes have already clinched a playoff spot and are a safe bet to stay where they are in second place in the Central Division. The Rebels made up some ground, closing the gap to seven points Friday night, but they have just four games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Hurricanes still have five more. As long as the ‘Canes manage two more points in those games, they will retain home ice for what is almost certainly going to be a first round matchup against the Rebels.

Last year the two clubs collided in the first round as well, with Lethbridge pulling out the series win in seven games on their way to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final, where they fell to the Regina Pats… who they happen to be playing Saturday night at home.

From there, they’ll play in Edmonton on Tuesday before taking on the Rebels again, this time in Red Deer, next Wednesday.