Canes comeback vs Hitmen falls short

By Dale Woodard on March 23, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

A late third period push Sunday night fell just short for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

As a result, the Canes will settle for three of a possible six weekend points following a 7-4 loss to the Calgary Hitmen in Western Hockey League play Sunday night at the Enmax Centre.

The Canes fell behind 4-1 in the second period on a trio of quick Hitmen goals and while the hosts were able to claw back within one thanks in part to a pair of goals from Zack Stringer, Calgary struck for a pair of empty-netters to snub the comeback bid.

That loss comes after a 3-1 Hurricanes win Friday night at the Enmax Centre before a heart-breaking 4-3 overtime loss Saturday in Calgary in which Lethbridge watched a late 3-1 lead evaporate as the Hitmen scored a pair in the final 5:29 and completed the comeback 38 seconds into overtime on Tyson Galloway’s second of the game.

“(Sunday) night, not the start we wanted,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “It was a pretty decent game back and forth. Thommy (Hurricanes goaltender Bryan Thomson) probably would have liked to have one or two of those goals back. But he made some big saves for us and did a good job keeping us in the game when we were playing well. I liked our compete in the third period. We didn’t quit and there was a lot good things we can learn.”

With Sunday’s loss, the Hurricanes drop to 3-4-1-0, while the Hitmen improve to 4-3-1-0.

On Sunday night, the Hitmen snapped a 1-1 tie in a span of 3:05 in the second period on goals from Zac Funk, Cael Zimmerman and Adam Kydd’s second of the game.

After Calgary’s Connor Gabruch paced the Hitmen to a 5-1 lead early in the third, the Canes brought it back to within one as Jett Jones made it 5-2 and Stringer drained a pair to make it 5-4 with 4:44 remaining.

The Hurricanes pulled Thomson for the extra attacker, but Calgary salted the win with empty net goals from Riley Stotts and Josh Prokop.

Kydd opened the scoring in the first and Hurricanes alternate captain Logan Barlage added a five-on-three power play goal midway through the first.

“We have to skate as a team and win our battles,” said Kisio. “We alway talk about it as a team and it’s get a bit old, but managing pucks is so important in this league. I thought we did a great job in the third period. Finally, enough was enough. We have to realize how we have to play and our leadership did a good job getting the puck in deep. Jonesy, Dino and Bar really set the tone in that third period, got it in and worked hard and we gave ourselves a chance. We could have easily tied it up late, unfortunately a couple of bounces. But there are a lot of positives we can take from the third period and move forward next week.”

Thomson stopped 33 of 38 shots for the Hurricanes, while Hitmen netminder and Taber product Brayden Peters turned aside 32 of 36 shots to earn the win, improving his record to 3-2-0-0.

Lethbridge was 2-for-5 on the power play. Calgary was 0-for-3.

Second-year defenceman Joe Arntsen drew an assist on Jones goal to start the almost-comeback.

Arntsen has two assists in his first eight games, going minus-three over that time. In 2019-20 he had one goal and three assists in 41 games.

“I’m feeling really good right now,” said Arntsen. “Obviously, I have a much bigger role this year compared to last year with losing a lot of guys on the back end. Getting to play with (Alex) Cotton, he’s such a great player and I feel a lot more confident than I did last year.”

The extra ice time has helped.

“I’m really enjoying the ice time this year,” said Arntsen.

“Last year was a hard year, not getting as much ice time as I’m used to. But this year, it’s nice to step up and contribute. Playing with Cots, he’s taught me a lot of great lessons with puck patience and a lot more offensive stuff that I can really bring to my game.”

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A late third period push Sunday night fell just short for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

As a result, the Canes will settle for three of a possible six weekend points following a 7-4 loss to the Calgary Hitmen in Western Hockey League play Sunday night at the Enmax Centre.

The Canes fell behind 4-1 in the second period on a trio of quick Hitmen goals and while the hosts were able to claw back within one thanks in part to a pair of goals from Zack Stringer, Calgary struck for a pair of empty-netters to snub the comeback bid.

That loss comes after a 3-1 Hurricanes win Friday night at the Enmax Centre before a heart-breaking 4-3 overtime loss Saturday in Calgary in which Lethbridge watched a late 3-1 lead evaporate as the Hitmen scored a pair in the final 5:29 and completed the comeback 38 seconds into overtime on Tyson Galloway’s second of the game.

“(Sunday) night, not the start we wanted,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “It was a pretty decent game back and forth. Thommy (Hurricanes goaltender Bryan Thomson) probably would have liked to have one or two of those goals back. But he made some big saves for us and did a good job keeping us in the game when we were playing well. I liked our compete in the third period. We didn’t quit and there was a lot good things we can learn.”

With Sunday’s loss, the Hurricanes drop to 3-4-1-0, while the Hitmen improve to 4-3-1-0.

On Sunday night, the Hitmen snapped a 1-1 tie in a span of 3:05 in the second period on goals from Zac Funk, Cael Zimmerman and Adam Kydd’s second of the game.

After Calgary’s Connor Gabruch paced the Hitmen to a 5-1 lead early in the third, the Canes brought it back to within one as Jett Jones made it 5-2 and Stringer drained a pair to make it 5-4 with 4:44 remaining.

The Hurricanes pulled Thomson for the extra attacker, but Calgary salted the win with empty net goals from Riley Stotts and Josh Prokop.

Kydd opened the scoring in the first and Hurricanes alternate captain Logan Barlage added a five-on-three power play goal midway through the first.

“We have to skate as a team and win our battles,” said Kisio. “We alway talk about it as a team and it’s get a bit old, but managing pucks is so important in this league. I thought we did a great job in the third period. Finally, enough was enough. We have to realize how we have to play and our leadership did a good job getting the puck in deep. Jonesy, Dino and Bar really set the tone in that third period, got it in and worked hard and we gave ourselves a chance. We could have easily tied it up late, unfortunately a couple of bounces. But there are a lot of positives we can take from the third period and move forward next week.”

Thomson stopped 33 of 38 shots for the Hurricanes, while Hitmen netminder and Taber product Brayden Peters turned aside 32 of 36 shots to earn the win, improving his record to 3-2-0-0.

Lethbridge was 2-for-5 on the power play. Calgary was 0-for-3.

Second-year defenceman Joe Arntsen drew an assist on Jones goal to start the almost-comeback.

Arntsen has two assists in his first eight games, going minus-three over that time. In 2019-20 he had one goal and three assists in 41 games.

“I’m feeling really good right now,” said Arntsen. “Obviously, I have a much bigger role this year compared to last year with losing a lot of guys on the back end. Getting to play with (Alex) Cotton, he’s such a great player and I feel a lot more confident than I did last year.”

The extra ice time has helped.

“I’m really enjoying the ice time this year,” said Arntsen.

“Last year was a hard year, not getting as much ice time as I’m used to. But this year, it’s nice to step up and contribute. Playing with Cots, he’s taught me a lot of great lessons with puck patience and a lot more offensive stuff that I can really bring to my game.”

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