By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Balanced scoring and solid goal-tending helps Hurricanes double up Ice 6-3

Oct 16, 2018 | 10:47 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A big night from the Lethbridge Hurricanes top line of Jordy Bellerive, Taylor Ross and Dylan Cozens and some well-timed goals helped propel them past the Kootenay Ice 6-3 on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Captain Jordy Bellerive says the 6-5 loss to the Prince George Cougars on the weekend was one of those games where it felt like they won even though they lost in the shootout.

“The momentum we took from that game and rolled into tonight was a huge positive and we’re going to just keep moving forward with it,” Bellerive said.

Things didn’t start off the way the Hurricanes wanted at the ENMAX Centre, as a puck deflected off the skate of Cameron Hausinge past goaltender Reece Klassen to give the Ice a 1-0 lead on the power play at 4:26 of the 1st period.

But then it was Bellerive getting the offence going for the Hurricanes, converting a pass from Dylan Cozens and beating Ice goaltender Jesse Makaj to knot things at 1-1.

Week-in-review: Federal Budget, water agreements and success for tourism industry

Apr 20, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 19, 2024

Apr 19, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

With 50 seconds to play in the 1st, the line that’s been drawing praise from their head coach as of late went to work. Jadon Joseph buried a rebound to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead over the Ice heading into the first intermission.

Midway through the 2nd period, it would be the Joseph unit striking again, but this time it was Jake Elmer ripping one past Makaj after a defender blew a tire to make it 3-1 for Lethbridge.

Five minutes later at 16:44, it was the captain once again as Bellerive scored his second of the night and 6th of the season to give the Hurricanes a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the 3rd period.

In the 3rd, another puck deflected in past Klassen, this time off of Jaeger White’s skate at 8:34 cutting the Hurricanes lead to 4-2 and setting up an interesting finish. 

Well, not so much. Less than two minutes later it was the top line for Lethbridge adding a bit more insurance as a one-timer by Taylor Ross beat Makej making it 5-2. Then before the PA announcer could even finish announcing the goal, at 11:31 Logan Barlage scored his 5th goal of the season giving Lethbridge a 6-2 lead.

The Ice would add a powerplay goal late for the 6-3 final. Shots in the game finished at 43-33 in favour of the Hurricanes. Lethbridge went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, while Kootenay finished 2-for-5. 

Bellerive, Cozens, Elmer and Calen Addison all had two points on the night, while Reece Klassen made 30 saves for his 4th win of the season. 

Head Coach Brent Kisio thought his club played a pretty solid game, albeit with some mistakes.

“There’s a lot of things I think we can take positives from. I think we did a lot of things we wanted to do offensively from out pre-scout, I liked the way we moved our feet and I thought we had a lot of lines going,” Kisio said.

One of those lines, the trio of Elmer, Joseph and Shepard, again drew praise from the coach.

“They’ve been outstanding for us. They’ve been playing well, they move their feet, support the puck well and the biggest thing for them is getting pucks in deep and they’ve been doing that,” Kisio explained.

After this divisional win, the Hurricanes will prepare for another Central Division foe this weekend.

On Friday, Oct. 19, it’s off to Medicine Hat for a showdown against the Tigers, and then both teams will head back to Lethbridge for the back half of the home-and-home series on Saturday, Oct. 20.