By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Hurricanes overcome slow start to take crucial Central Division battle 6-3 over Tigers

Feb 22, 2019 | 8:50 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes shook off a slow start on Friday, Feb. 22, to come from behind to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3 on a night honouring the Boulet family and dressed in special Don Cherry themed jerseys.

The Tigers came out of the gate the more prepared team and put the pressure on the Hurricanes quickly.

Not four minutes into the 1st period, Corson Hopwo beat Lethbridge goaltender Carl Tetachuk to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Then at 6:05 Medicine Hat would strike again, Ryan Chyzowski scored on the powerplay to increase the Tigers lead to 2-0.

Penalty troubles in the opening frame would continue a few minutes later when Jake Leschyshyn was whistled for cross-checking.

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Off the ensuing faceoff, Medicine Hat was called for a penalty to bring about 4-on-4 and that extra ice made all the difference for the Hurricanes.

Jake Elmer ripped one home past Tigers goalie Mads Sogaard to the glove side to cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:45. The goal was Elmer’s 30th on the season, and his seventh straight game with a goal.

On a night with the Boulet family in the house, it figures that the kid from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Logan Barlage, would get on the board. His power play goal evened the game up at 2-2 with 6:20 remaining in the 1st period.

The horn would sound on the opening period with the 2-2 score holding up. Shots after 20 minutes of play favoured Lethbridge 13-10.

The Hurricanes didn’t repeat their slow start in the 2nd period, as early on Nick Henry made a great pass from the corner right onto the tape of Jake Leschyshyn who buried it past Sogaard to give the Lethbridge their first lead of the night at 3-2.

Tetachuk made maybe his best save of the 2018-19 campaign with 11:44 left in the middle frame with a monster glove save off of Elijah Brown to keep the puck from crossing the line.

The Hurricanes would ride that momentum just a few minutes later after another fantastic pass by Nick Henry to Taylor Ross who converted it and increased his team’s lead to 4-2.

Before the end of the period, a weird looking one got past Tetachuk from the corner when Hopwo pressured Jordy Bellerive, and he’d get credit for his second of the game to make it 4-3.

Lethbridge outshot Medicine Hat once again in the 2nd period, this time by a margin of 17-12.

In the final frame, the Tigers put the press on but couldn’t beat Tetachuk. Jordy Bellerive added the insurance goal on the powerplay at 14:50, and another into an empty net in the final minute for the 6-3 final.

Shots in the game were 40-34 for the Hurricanes, but the Tigers did have the advantage in the 3rd at 12-10.

It was a penalty-filled affair that drew the ire of the crowd for parts of the night. Lethbridge finished 2-for-6 with the man advantage, while Medicine Hat could only convert once on eight tries with the extra man.

With the win, the Hurricanes record moves to 31-17-5-5 good for 72 points and second place in the Central Division with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

The back half of the home and home set goes tomorrow night in Medicine Hat.