Oil Kings score royal win over Hurricanes

By Dale Woodard on February 27, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

A pair of early surrendered power play goals put the Lethbridge Hurricanes on the receiving end of a convincing loss to start the season.
Playing their first game in almost a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hurricanes were handed a convincing 7-1 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings as Western Hockey League Central Division action returned to the ice Friday night in Edmonton.
The Oil Kings turned two early power plays into a 2-0 lead before the game was 2:32 old and while Lethbridge’s Noah Boyko halved that lead with another man advantage goal early in the second period, the rest was all Edmonton as the hosts poured in five straight goals to post the win.
Leading the Oil Kings on the stats sheet was Dylan Guenther, who opened the scoring and added one more goal to go along with two assists for a four-point night.
After Guenther opened the scoring on the man advantage 1:47 into the game, Kaid Oliver put Edmonton up 2-0 a little under a minute later.
It stayed that way until early in the second when Boyko scored 25 seconds into the period, but any hopes of a comeback quickly went south.
Josh Williams restored the Oil Kings’ two-goal lead 9:03 into the second, tapping home a feed from Guenther after Hurricane defenceman Trevor Thurston caught Jake Neighbours with a thunderous hit at the Lethbridge blue-line.
Guenther put the Oil Kings up 4-1 shortly afterwards and Tyler Horstmann, Neighbours and Carson Latimer rounded out the scoring for Edmonton.
Neighbours and Oliver added two assists for three-point nights, while Williams had an assist for two points and Logan Dowhaniuk added two helpers for Edmonton.
Canes goaltender Carl Tetachuk faced 47 shots, while Oil Kings Sebastian Cossa kicked out 26 of 27 shots he faced for the win.
The Oil Kings power play went 2-for-5, while the Hurricanes were 1-for-8.
The two teams complete the weekend series tonight at 6 p.m. at the Enmax Centre.
In other Central Division WHL play Friday night, the Medicine Hat Tigers got past the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 in overtime in Red Deer as Medicine Hat’s Carson Hopwo scored the OT winner to complete his hat trick bid.
NOTES:
Hurricanes forward Zack Stringer will donate $5 for each goal he scores during the regular season to the Canadian Cancer Society.
“I’ve decided to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society in honour of my dad,” said Stringer in a release. “He unfortunately passed from cancer at a young age, so it is an honour to do this in his memory. My family and friends are behind me doing this for a great cause. To try and help others during their fight means a lot to me and my family.”
The 17-year-old Lethbridge product was drafted by the Hurricanes in the first round and eighth overall in the 2018 WHL bantam draft.
Stringer played 48 games as a 16-year-old in 2019-2020, scoring 11 goals and 34 points.
Those who would like to join Stringer’s initiative can make a one-time donation online at
http://support.cancer.ca/goto/ZackStringer or can sign up to match his donation per goal by contacting Kathy at admin@lethbridgehurricanes.com.

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