Hurricanes chill the Ice in a shootout

By Dale Woodard - Lethbridge Herald on March 3, 2022.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes saw a three-goal lead evaporate, but still regrouped for two crucial points.
The Hurricanes got past the Winnipeg Ice 4-3 in a shootout in Western Hockey League play Wednesday night in Winnipeg.
Kicking off the first game of a seven-game road trip, the Canes grabbed a 3-0 lead after the first period, only to have the Ice respond with a trio of their own in the second.
But after a scoreless third and five-minute overtime and a mostly scoreless shootout, Lethbridge import forward Liekit Reichle pulled the trigger in the sixth round of the shootout to earn the second point on a night when Lethbridge chased Ice starter Daniel Hauser from the goal after the first period.
The win improves the Hurricanes to 22-24-2-1, moving them into a tie for seventh in the Eastern Conference with the Calgary Hitmen (20-23-5-2) and the Swift Current Broncos (20-27-5-2).
Briley Wood, Alex Thacker and Jett Jones – on the power play – handed Lethbridge a 3-0 lead after the first period.
The Ice made the lead disappear in the opening 11:55 of the second.
Zachary Benson scored 24 seconds into the period before former Hurricane Chase Wheatcroft scored his ninth of the season to make it 3-2 Hurricanes.
Connor McClennon then scored on the power play for the Ice to tie it up.
The Ice outshot the Hurricanes 11-10 in the third as Hurricanes goaltender Bryan Thomson and Ice backup Gage Alexander turned aside everything they faced.
The Ice managed two more shots in overtime, but Thomson turned those away as the teams headed to the shootout.
Thomson and Alexander continued to be unbeatable in the shootout before Reichle ended the marathon with the only goal.
Benjamin Zloty had two assists for Winnipeg.
Thomson stopped 30 of 33 shots, while Alexander made 23 saves after starting the second period.
Hauser stopped six of nine shots in the first period.
The Ice outshot the Hurricanes 33-32.
The Hurricanes were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Ice went 1-for-3 on the man advantage.
The Hurricanes continue their road trip in Brandon Friday when they take on the Wheat Kings.
The Wheat Kings lost 7-6 to the Regina Pats Wednesday in Brandon.
Hurricanes forward Corson Hopwo sat out the second of his two-game suspension he was assessed from Friday against the Hitmen.
Forward Logan Wormald was also out with an upper body injury.

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