Cleaver shines as Hurricanes shut out by Tigers

By Lethbridge Herald on February 20, 2026.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald

Try as he might, Koen Cleaver couldn’t quite steal Friday night’s game for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The 18-year-old goaltender earned first star honours with 49 saves as Lethbridge fell 3-0 to the Medicine Hat Tigers at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

“I thought he was great.” Hurricane head coach Matt Anholt told the Herald in a post game interview. “He’s been great all year, other than maybe a couple of games here or there. I think he’s been our backbone of our team, him and Oaten, every single night we have a chance. We had a chance tonight. Obviously, you can’t win if you don’t score any goals. But Koen, once again, gave us a chance.”

The Hurricanes would be neck and neck with the Tigers after the first period, as neither team would be able to crack the scoreboard.

Medicine Hat held a 14-10 shot advantage after the opening stanza.

“I didn’t really like any of our periods tonight.” Anholt said. “I know the shots were better in the first, but I didn’t really like our first either. I think a lot of it just had to do with a couple of shifts where guys like Lafournaise and Chenier, and guys like that kind of created a little bit on their shifts. I know indicative of the shots, like it was our best period, but I didn’t really like it, to be honest. I didn’t like a lot about our game tonight.”

The Tigers would score in bunches in the second period. Former Hurricane Luke Cozens would score his 22nd goal of the season at the 9:25 mark with a redirection in front. Jonas Woo and Bryce Pickford provided the helpers.

Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha would extend the Medicine Hat lead to two with his 10th goal of the season at the 16:03 mark.

Not even a minute later, Markus Ruck would find twine for the 16th time this season to give the Tigers a three goal advantage after 40 minutes.

Shots favored the Tigers 35-17 after the second period.

That would be all the Tigers would need as Jordan Switzer turned aside all 26 Lethbridge shots he faced on route to his second shutout of the season.

The Hurricanes and Tigers face off tomorrow night at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.