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Early offensive surge drives Hurricanes to 5-4 win over Blades

Feb 17, 2018 | 12:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE – If you were late finding your seat for this one, you missed a lot. You missed an awful lot.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes definitely weren’t late in getting things started Friday night, Feb. 17, as Jordy Bellerive opened the scoring just 18 seconds in against the Saskatoon Blades with his 39th of the season. One minute later and Dylan Cozens made it 2-0 Lethbridge. Then, over the span of 15 seconds, Matthew Stanley and Calen Addison doubled the lead to 4-0, chasing Saskatoon netminder Tyler Brown from the net with only five minutes gone in the first period.

The Blades mounted a bit of a comeback midway through the opening frame, scoring two goals of their own in just 1:30, cutting the Hurricanes’ lead to 4-2.

After a second period that didn’t see any offence from either club, the third is when Saskatoon started to pour the pressure on, outshooting Lethbridge 18-2 over the final 20 minutes.

It was the Blades turn to strike early this time, with Eric Florchuk beating Hurricanes goalie Logan Flodell 47 seconds into the third period and getting within one. Only five minutes later though, Stanley fired home his second goal of the night – and second of the season – to put the Hurricanes back ahead by two. That also turned out to be the game winner, as the Blades would manage one more with six seconds left on the clock, making the final score 5-4 for the host team.

While the third period shooting gallery wasn’t ideal, it still marks an impressive win for the Hurricanes against a team that is feeling some heat to move up in the standings. The Blades currently occupies the second Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference, and are trying to put some distance between themselves and Prince Albert, who right now sits four points behind them and out of the playoff picture.

For the Hurricanes, the win pulls them to within three points of first-place Medicine Hat in the Central Division, and more importantly, it moves them seven points ahead of third place Kootenay and the surging Red Deer Rebels, who have tied the Ice and threaten to bump them from the final playoff spot in the Central. It’s worth noting that the ‘Canes have played two-less games than all three of those teams.

The Hurricanes now have an excellent chance to cushion their position and devastate the Ice, with the two teams set to meet in a home-and-home series this weekend. Lethbridge will welcome Kootenay on Saturday, before travelling to B.C. to visit the Ice on Sunday.