Hurricanes beat Hitmen, fall to Tigers in weekend set

TRADE: The #WHLCanes have acquired 2004-born forward Jordan Gustafson from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for 2004-born forward Hayden Pakkala and three draft picks.

Details https://t.co/2ofHlBXU00

— Lethbridge Hurricanes (@WHLHurricanes) December 27, 2024

In the first period, the Hurricanes kicked off the scoring 12:44 in. Cameron Norrie fed to puck to Noah Chadwick at the blueline, who then found Tristen Doyle cross-ice, and Doyle fired his first goal of the season past Anders Miller to make it a 1-0 game.

A little under a minute later, the Hurricanes doubled their lead when Logan Wormald took a pass from Brayden Edwards in front of the net and wrapped it around a sprawled out Miller for his 18th of the season. Doyle added the secondary assist on the goal for his second point of the night.

No more goals were scored in the first, as Jackson Unger continued his white hot play with the Hurricanes, stopping nine shots in the opening frame.

In the second, the Hurricanes found themselves in some penalty trouble early on, with penalties to Shane Smith and Trae Johnson a little over three minutes apart. They killed off both penalties to keep their shutout going.

The Hitmen had a goal waved off in the second when the refs determined a goal had been batted in with Maxim Muranov’s hand. However, 11:30 in, Unger’s shutout was broken when Brandon Gorzynski fired a shot past him to cut their deficit in half.

Lethbridge would respond with just 1:39 left in the period, when Tristen Doyle fired a slapshot from the point past Miller for his second of the game on the powerplay. The goal was also a milestone one, as Daneault grabbed the first point of his WHL career with the primary assist. Will Sharpe had the secondary helper.

In the third, the two teams were largely held off the scoreboard until 17:34 in, when Edwards buried the puck in the empty net to officially seal the win for Lethbridge. Wormald and Norrie added assists on the goal, while Unger stopped all 11 shots.

Doyle’s three points netted him first star of the game, while Unger’s 31 save performance got him second star honours. Third star went to Daneualt, recognizing his effort in scoring his first career point.

The win improved the Hurricanes’ record at home to a league-leading 14-2-1.

Saturday, December 28 vs. Medicine Hat Tigers

Following the win over Calgary, the Hurricanes traveled to Medicine Hat to face off against the Tigers for the fourth time in eight December games.

Despite the momentum coming from the Friday night win, the Hurricanes were outshot and eventually shut out by their Highway 3 rivals.

After keeping the Tigers at bay in the first period, where Koen Cleaver stopped 11 shots, Medicine Hat scored two goals in the second period off the sticks of Oasiz Wiesblatt and Liam Ruck.

In the third period, the Tigers would add two more goals from Hunter St. Martin and Liam Ruck again, to end the game at 4-0. The Hurricanes managed 17 shots total in the game, but could not get any past Jordan Switzer.

With the loss, the Hurricanes fell to a 4-10-1 record on the road, with their 9 road points being worst in the WHL to counteract their stunning home record.

The Hurricanes will look to bounce back from their loss on Monday, December 30 with a game in Red Deer against the Rebels. Puck drop is at 7:00.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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If you have a news tip, question or concern, please email Lethbridge.newsroom@Pattisonmedia.com.

by Christian Oldale

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Hurricanes beat Hitmen, fall to Tigers in weekend set

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