Hurricanes Secure Home-Ice Advantage with 5-3 Win Over Raiders (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By Haven Thibert

Playoff Bound

Hurricanes secure home-ice advantage with 5-3 win over Raiders

Mar 13, 2025 | 9:59 AM

The Lethbridge Hurricanes secured home-ice advantage in the first round of the WHL Playoffs with a 5-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday night at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

Kooper Gizowski scored twice, including the game-winner in the final seconds, as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to eight games (7-0-0-1) and secured their fourth consecutive victory.

Lethbridge found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first period after goals from Riley Boychuk and Brayden Dube gave the Raiders an early edge. However, the Hurricanes responded quickly, with Leo Braillard scoring his 25th of the season to cut the deficit to one before the first intermission.

The Hurricanes evened the score early in the second period on a five-on-three power play, as Logan Wormald netted his 30th campaign goal. Prince Albert regained the lead minutes later, but Lethbridge battled back, with Gizowski tapping in his 14th goal of the year to tie the game 3-3 heading into the final frame.

In the third period, both teams had chances, but Hurricanes netminder Jackson Unger and Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand kept the game locked in a stand-off.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

It wasn’t until the final minute that Gizowski struck again, firing home his second of the night to give Lethbridge their first lead of the game. Logan McCutcheon sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Lethbridge Hurricanes vs Prince Albert Raiders (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

Gizowski credited the team’s determination after never holding the lead until the final minute.

“I think just the effort we have—we never led the game until the very end, but we kept battling back and played to our ability,” said Gizowski. “We just have to keep doing that every night.”

With the win, Lethbridge improved to 41-19-2-2 on the season and 24-6-1-0 at home. The ‘Canes also wrapped up an impressive 20-4-0-1 record against East Division opponents.

Lethbridge continues their homestand on Friday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00 p.m., followed by a matchup against the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets and more can be found at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.