Hurricanes even up Eastern Conference Final at 2-2 following second straight 5-1 victory over Broncos

The Broncos had an answer, and quickly, as Tyler Steenbergen absolutely blew a shot past the glove of Hurricanes goaltender Logan Flodell to put Swift Current on the board.

But the theme of the night was Bronco penalties, and before the first period came to a close Taylor Ross made them pay banging one home to reclaim the two-goal lead heading into the second period.

Midway through the second period, a shot off the rush hit Flodell and the puck bounced up into the air but landed on top of the net to stay out.

Before the buzzer sounded to end the second, Calen Addison scored the first of two powerplay goals on the night for him to make it 4-1 Hurricanes and that’s when the “Skinner, Skinner” chants really picked up by the loud and vociferous Lethbridge faithful in attendance.

Then at 6:57 in the third period, Addison buried his second powerplay goal to make it 5-1 and put the game out of reach for the Broncos.

That’s when the frustrations started to boil over for Swift Current, but ultimately, cooler heads prevailed.

After the game speaking to the media, Skinner was candid about what he thought of the chants from his former team’s fans.

“I expected more out of them, to be honest with you, but that’s how quick things change I guess,” Skinner continued. “I’ve got more motivation now moving forward because I want to beat the fans too.”

The Hurricanes’ record on home ice is now 8-0 in the playoffs, and Head Coach Brent Kisio says his team was confident they’d be able to bounce back after dropping the first two games in Swift Current.

“When knew that if we just played the right way, got a bit of a boost from our fans, and did just a little bit more we’d be fine,” Kisio said.

The man advantage was big for the Hurricanes on this night, and Kisio credited that to getting good screens in front and shots through to the net.

“[Taylor] Rosser did a really nice job in front, and I think we did a good moving the puck around and taking the right options.”

As far as his thoughts on the fans for a second straight night?

“Our fans are awesome. I’ve said it repeatedly, but they impact our team so much,” Kisio said.

In his few minutes with the media, Skinner also mentioned that he was thankful the Broncos were able to get lucky and win the first two games of the series because in his estimation the Hurricanes had played well enough to have swept Swift Current by this point.

Lethbridge captain Jordy Bellerive was happy to hear that.

“That’s kind of exciting for us. I think if they’re kind of down on themselves like that already it puts us in a pretty good spot because when we went down 2-0 [in the series] there wasn’t a doubt in our minds that we could come home and win both games,” Bellerive stated.

Both teams will have a few days to refresh after tonight’s game, as pivotal Game 5 will be on Saturday, April 28, in Swift Current.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Hurricanes even up Eastern Conference Final at 2-2 following second straight 5-1 victory over Broncos

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