Canes start second half with win

By Lethbridge Herald on December 27, 2024.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Hurricanes Brayden Edwards attempts to skate for the loose puck while being checked by Carson Westch of the Calgary Hitmen during WHL action at VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Friday night.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes opened up the second half of the season with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

“You never know what you’re going to get for sure coming out of the Christmas break but guys played hard and got better as it went,” said Bill Peters, Canes head coach.

Peters thought the contributions came from everyone in the line-up.

“I think our veteran guys have done a fantastic job leading the way and our young guys follow right in line,” said Peters.

“We’re getting great minutes out of our young guys and some of the guys that were here last year have taken a positive step.”

Tristen Doyle led the way with two goals and assist on the night.

“I thought we did well coming off the break,” said Doyle.

“We were a little tired (and) sluggish in the first period but we figured it out at the end.”

Doyle’s point shot found its way through a  crowd to open the scoring and give the Canes an early 1-0 lead 12:44 into the opening frame.

Noah Chadwick and Cameron Norrie picked up the assists on Doyle’s first goal of the season.

Logan Wormald then slid the puck under Hitmen goalies Anders Miller just under a minute later for his 18th of the season to give Lethbridge a 2-0 lead.

Doyle and Brayden Edwards assisted on Wormald’s goal.

Brandon Gorzynski cut the Canes lead in half with his fifth of the season 11:30 into the second period from Oliver Tulk and Ben Kindel.

Doyle scored his second goal of the night on the powerplay with 1:21 to go in the second period to give the Canes a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.

Easton Daneault and Will Sharpe notched the assists on the goal.

Edwards sealed it with an empty netter with 2:26 to go in the game.

Final shots were 32-31 in favour of the Hitmen.

Lethbridge went 1-for-5 on the powerplay.

It was Lethbridge’s first win against Calgary this season.

The Canes (18-11-1-1) hit the road for two games where they visit Medicine Hat tonight and Red Deer on Monday.

It was earlier on Friday  that the Canes traded 20-year-old Hayden Pakkala and three draft picks to the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for 20-year-old forward Jordan Gustafson.

“We are thrilled to be able to add Jordan to our group,” said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt in a release.

“His experience having played in two WHL finals, winning in 2023, and his ability to produce at our level is something that we coveted and are really happy to be able to add him to our forward group.”

Gustafson has collected 127 points in 154 WHL games and  helped Seattle capture the WHL championship in 2023 and played in the Memorial Cup in the same year.

Gustafson is a Vegas Golden Knights prospect.