Hurricanes rout Broncos

By Lethbridge Herald on December 6, 2022.

Herald photo by Justin Seward- Lethbridge HurricanesÕ Jett Jones and Tyson Laventure dig for the loose puck in front of Swift Current Broncos goalie Joey Rocha during third period action at the Enmax Centre on Tuesday night.

Justin Seward – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – sports@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Hurricanes dominated the Swift Current Broncos in  a 7-2 win on Tuesday night at the Enmax Centre.

This was the Canes first home game after a six-game road trip and improved their record to 16-11-0-1 overall and 11-3-0-1 over a 15-game span.

“I thought it was really good for a mid-week game coming off of a long away stand,” said Ryan Aasman, Hurricanes assistant coach.

“I thought we had a feel-up period in the first, where we were just kind of  feeling out the game and being back in the home environment.  I thought the second period really set the tone for the rest of the game, and we came out really fast and confident and ready to make plays, and made some timely plays and put pucks towards the net and had some bodies around there that helped. And  I thought our details were good throughout the 60 minutes.”

Aasman thought the Hurricanes had more jump tonight.

“I think usually that team plays really heavy and fast and they’re usually on their toes,” said Aasman.

“We could tell we got lucky and got them on an off night because that’s a good hockey team over there. But give props to our boys for being prepared and ready to go on a Tuesday night at home.”

Tyson Zimmer walked in from the half wall just 3:23 into the game and snapshot the puck past Broncos goalie Reid Dyck to give the Hurricanes the early 1-0 lead.

Jett Jones drew the assist.

Grayson Burzynski tied the game for the Broncos at 7:20 of the first, as he skated into the slot and wristed home his first of the season.

The Canes’s Tristan Zandee made  the game 2-1 Hurricanes after tapping in a Tyson Laventure pass at 9:58 of the first period.

Swift Current’s Raphael Pelletier was able to kick the puck from his skate to  his stick and deposit his eighth of the season past Harrison Meneghin at 17:23 of the first period to tie the game at two.

Jett Jones scored a powerplay goal from Cole Shepard and Logan McCutcheon just 33 seconds into the middle frame to push the Canes ahead 3-2.

Zimmer notched his second of the night and eighth of the season at 5:43  of the second period to double Lethbridge’s lead to 4-2.

Shepard padded the Canes lead to 5-2 after converting on a pass from Miguel Marques during a 2-on-1 sequence at 10:02 of the second.

Canes defenceman Chase Pauls scored his first goal of the season on breakaway with 26 seconds to go in the second to make the score 6-2 for the home side.

Logan Wormald deked through Broncos defenders and deposited his ninth of the season at 13:19 of the third period to make the score 7-2.

“After the road trip, everyone was pretty sore and tired ,” said Zimmer.

“I mean we got a nice day off and then we came back to the rink and got back to work. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing and our coaches have held us accountable. So if we can keep going here, it’s fun to come to the rink.”

Shots were 39-24 in favour of Lethbridge.

Each team had one powerplay goal on the evening.

The Hurricanes will now prepare to host the Medicine Hat Tigers for Teddy Bear Toss night at the Enmax Centre on Friday night.