A Lethbridge Hurricanes jersey (Lethbridge Hurricanes)

By Justin Goulet

Saskatoon hands Lethbridge a loss in shoot-out

Nov 29, 2019 | 9:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The game was fast and furious and had the crowd on their feet at the EMMAX Centre as the Saskatoon Blades were in Lethbridge.

Unfortunately for ‘Canes fans, it was the Blades that earned the victory on Friday night.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period’s scoring was controlled by Lethbridge, with goals from Alex Thacker at 15:49. It was his second of the season. Rylan Thiessen and Ty Prefontaine recorded the assists.

Oliver Okuliar, who has had a stellar campaign, scored his 19^th goal at the 17:33 mark. Okuliar’s short-handed goal was assisted by Koletrane Wilson and Dino Kambeitz.

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As for penalties laid out during the game’s opening period, Nolan Kneen (Saskatoon) was called for tripping at 9:37 and Lethbridge’s D-Jay Jerome was called for high sticking at 16:15.

SECOND PERIOD

Mirroring the first period, it was actually the Blades that took hold of the scoring in the second frame.

Eric Florchuk made it 2-1 at 6:34 on the power play, with the assists coming from Kyle Crnkovic and Aidan De La Gorgendiere. Shortly before the buzzer sounded, at 18:59, Jayden Wiens tied it up off the help from Randen Schmidt and Braden Plaschewsky.

Saskatoon’s Matej Toman was called for hooking at the 2:38 mark, and Lethbridge’s Jett Jones was called for slashing at 5:02.

THIRD PERIOD

Going into the third period, the game was tied at 2-2. At 1:17, Okuliar scored his second of the game and 20^th of the season, off assists from Dylan Cozens and D-Jay Jerome.

It looked as though Lethbridge had the game in the bag until, at 17:28, Saskatoon’s Zach Huber scored the tying goal, assisted by De La Gorgendiere and Radek Kucerik.

The Hurricanes couldn’t close out the remaining couple of minutes with a goal and the game was sent to overtime.

OVERTIME & SHOOT-OUT

Zack Stringer came oh so close to sealing the win for Lethbridge during the extra frame, but Nolan Maier crushed that vision and made a huge save, sending the game to a shoot-out.

In the shoot-out’s first round, Crnkovic was up first for Saskatoon. He was able to get one past Carl Tetachuk, which turned out to be the game winner, as no other players scored.

When all was said and done, it was a 4-3 victory for Saskatoon, snapping Lethbridge’s two-game win streak.

Up next for the Hurricanes is a meeting with the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, December 3. The Blades visit Medicine Hat tomorrow night, November 30.

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