By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Hurricanes fall flat in 4-0 loss to Tigers

Apr 7, 2017 | 10:37 PM

MEDICINE HAT – If there was any rust on the Medicine Hat Tigers after a nine day layoff, it sure didn’t show Friday night (Apr. 7).

On the flip side, the Lethbridge Hurricanes – coming off a game seven win over Red Deer just three days earlier – looked flat and were outclassed for the better part of 60 minutes in a 4-0 game-one loss to open the second round.

The Tigers roared out of the gate, putting the Hurricanes on their heels early in the first and testing Lethbridge goaltender Stuart Skinner on a very regular basis, in what was the first post-season meeting between the two clubs since 1991.

John Dahlstrom opened the scoring for Medicine Hat with just under five minutes to play in the first, after a stray shot from the point rebounded off the end boards and onto his stick in front.

The ‘Canes would start to show some life late in the first and early in the second period, coming close to scoring a couple of times, but Tigers’ netminder Michael Bullion would stand tall, en route to a 16-save shutout.

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The tide of the game would then completely shift back to the home team, as Bullion turned aside an Alec Baer shot on a two-on-one, and the Tigers’ promptly went back the other way, with Chad Butcher firing a one-timer past a sprawling Skinner.

Steven Owre and Zach Fischer would add two more for Medicine Hat, putting the game out of reach.

On the plus side, the Hurricanes were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill – something they struggled to do against the Tigers during the regular season – and Skinner was sensational throughout the contest, keeping the score relatively tight behind a listless team that seemed a step behind all night.

The other positive for Lethbridge is that they won’t have to dwell on the loss for long, as game two goes Saturday night (Apr. 8), once again in Medicine Hat. The series will then shift to Lethbridge for game three on Tuesday (Apr. 18).

Of note, the Hurricanes were missing centre Matt Alfaro and defenceman Calen Addison to injuries. It’s not yet clear how long either will be out of the lineup.