Hurricanes split weekend series with Tigers

In the second period, after an elbowing penalty to Hurricanes forward Kooper Gizowski, Mathew Ward buried a powerplay goal past Koen Cleaver 9:53 in to make it 1-0. Later in the period, on another powerplay, Hunter St. Martin gave the Tigers a two goal lead on his 22nd goal of the season.

In the third, the Hurricanes broke Jordan Switzer’s shutout 9:40 in, with Hayden Pakkala jumping on a loose puck in front, burying it for his seventh of the season. Will Sharpe and Kooper Gizowski added the assist on the goal.

Later on, the Tigers would pad their lead again as their captain Oasiz Weisblatt deked around Cleaver to bury the eventual game winner.

The Hurricanes tried to mount a comeback in the final minutes of the game, beginning with Noah Chadwick taking a feed from Logan McCutcheon and firing a point shot past Switzer for yet another powerplay goal. Trae Johnson added the second helper on Chadwick’s eighth goal of the year.

However, despite more high leverage chances, and the Hurricanes outshooting Medicine Hat 14-7 in the final period, Switzer stood strong to give the Tigers a 3-2 win.

St. Martin was named first star, while Andrew Basha and Koen Cleaver got the second and third star, respectively.

Sunday, December 15, 2024

For the second game in the back-to-back matchups, the teams traveled to Lethbridge for a rivalry night at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

Unlike Saturday’s game, the second contest got started very early in favour of the Hurricanes. Just 1:24 into the first period, Noah Chadwick continued his hot streak, firing a slapshot past Zach Zahara for his ninth of the season, and fourth goal in his last six games.

Later in the period, Chadwick passed the puck down low to Kooper Gizowski, who undressed Tigers defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen and fed a charging Will Sharpe, who buried his third of the season to make it 2-0. The goal was Sharpe’s first in 20 games.

Early in the second period, the Tigers struck early, with Carter Cunningham feeding Ethan Neutens a cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1, which he put past Jackson Unger to cut the lead in half.

After a stretch with no scoring, the Hurricanes got their insurance goal 15:14 into the second when former Tiger Shane Smith grabbed a loose puck in the slot and fired it past Zahara for his fifth goal of the season. It was Smith’s first goal in 13 games, and his first against his former team. Brayden Edwards added his first assist of two on the night.

In the final frame, the two teams got fully into the physical side of the game, resulting in a combined 62 penalty minutes in the third, including five 10 minute misconducts.

Amidst the heavy dose of penalties, the Hurricanes added their final goal of the game, with Gizowski burying a pass from Edwards 11:16 in for his sixth of the season. Unger stopped all 11 shots he faced in the period, along with 25 of 26 in the game to secure his fifth win as a Hurricane in five games.

Chadwick’s two-point night got him first star honours, while Smith and Edwards rounded out second and third, respectively.

With the win, the Hurricanes now go on a nearly two-week holiday break, ending when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen on December 27.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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by Christian Oldale

Hurricanes split weekend series with Tigers

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