Thunderbirds down Hurricanes 5-4

By Dori Modney

Canes take 5-4 loss against Seattle in O-T

Jan 3, 2020 | 10:16 PM

LETHBRIDGE — The Hurricanes’ first game of the new year – and a new decade – turned out to be a spirited event against the Seattle Thunderbirds, with both teams offering energetic play

Just 21-seconds into play, Seattle’s Cade McNelly provided the Canes a power play opportunity, after Hurricane Alex Cotton took a check to the head.

At the three-minute mark, Koletrane Wilson and Justin Hall set up the puck and Chase Wheatcroft slammed it between the pipes, giving the Canes a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Logan Barlage was sent to the pen for interference, opening a chance for the T-Birds and Henrik Rybinski tied the score.

The game continued to alternate between penalties and power play opportunities. At 12:30, Zack Stringer added his fifth goal of the season, off the assist from Koletrane Wilson and Chasse Wheatcroft.

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The Hurricane lead was short lived. Fifteen seconds before the buzzer, Seattle’s Conner Bruggen-Cate tied the game at 2-2 and the period ended with both teams evenly matched in shots-on-goal.

The opening three minutes of the middle frame presented a chance for Seattle to steal the lead, as Keltie Jeri-Leon put one past Canes’ goalie Bryan Thomson and taking the score to 3-2.

Again, the game reverted to penalties and power plays. Then, at the eleven-minute mark, Justin Hall took the assist from Chase Wheatcroft and Logan Barlage to even the game at 3-3.

Seattle racked up two more penalties, for holding and boarding, providing the Canes’ with a power play opportunity. Logan Barlage stepped up, taking the assist from Alex Cotton and Justin Hall – and the Canes took a 4-3 lead. The period ended with Lethbridge leading 21-16 shots-on-goal.

The final 20 minutes of game play brought a lone goal from the Thunderbirds, tying the game at 4-4 which held until the end of the game, sending play into over-time.

It was a short-lived over-time, as T-Birds Payton Mount (9) scored the winner at 1:50.

The over-time score was 5-4 for Seattle, but the Canes gained one game point, to keep thee team at second place in the Central Division at 23-10-1-5.

The game’s Three Stars: 1) Canes’ Justin Hall; 2) Canes’ Chase Wheatcroft; 3) Seattle’s Keltie Jeri-Leon.

The Hurricane’s next game is Saturday night (Jan 4), as they host the Calgary Hitmen.