Hurricanes grind out win over Broncos

By Lethbridge Herald on October 30, 2024.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Hurricanes Brayden Edwards runs over Swift Current Broncos goalie Reid Dyck as he attempts to wrap the puck around into the net during WHL action at VisitLethbridge,com Arena on Wednesday night.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes  improved to 8-3-1 on the seaon after holding  on for a 3-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday night at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

“I thought our start was good,” said Ryan Aasman, Hurricanes assistant coach.

“We seemed to be on our toes and we rode a little bit of momentum. It was great to see (Luke) Cozens score and he’s played really good for us.  I was happy to see him get rewarded with a good  goal, especially the way it was. It’s a bump-up shift after we scored, it’s a centre ice face-off loss where we get on our toes, and we create a turnover and we score.”

Aasman saw that as an encouraging moment.

Aasman spoke about limiting the damage in their own zone considering they were outshot 34-16 in the game.

“I think our structure was good,” said Aasman.

“I  think we didn’t  allowed too much into the middle of the ice … but I thought Brady (Smith) was great at managing the game. It felt like there was moments  where maybe they were threatening, but it didn’t seem that bad because he was calm in there.”

“Every time we play the Broncos, it’s obviously a grind…but I think we stuck to it, ” said Cozens.

“Obviously there’s somethings we got to clean up but pretty happy we got the win here and we’ll be ready for the weekend.”

Logan Wormald finished off a 2-on-1 passing play with Brayden Edwards to give the Canes an early 1-0 lead 3:43 into the game.

Miguel Marques also got an assist on Wormald’s seventh goal of the year.

Luke Cozens tucked in a rebound for his first of the season eight seconds later to give Lethbridge a 2-0 lead from Leo Braillard and Hayden Pakkala.

Marques stuck with it out  in tight and roofed it over Broncos goalie Reid Dyck to give Lethbridge a 3-0 lead with 6:42 left in the first period from Wormald and Edwards.

Swift Current got one back with under two minutes to go in the second, as Luke Mistelbacher one-timed in his 10th of the year from Rylan Gould and Brady Birnie on the powerplay.

The Canes went 0-for-3 while Swift Current went 1-for-4 on the powerplay.

Swift Current outshot Lethbridge 34-16.

The Canes host the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night.