Lethbridge Hurricanes closed out the home portion of their season facing two division rivals.
The Canes were on the Enmax ice Saturday night for their final home game of the season, facing the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The evening started off with a small pre-game ceremony recognizing a few players for their accomplishments on and off the ice and also saluted two graduating players, captain Brody Sutter and goalie Damien Ketlo.
Medicine Hat’s Emerson Etem fired in his 59th goal of the season just 36 seconds into the first period. It was the first shot on net and the first goal for the Tigers.
The Canes fought but failed to get on the scoreboard in the first. Boston Leier of the Tigers stormed the left wing and hammered a shot in off the post, ending the first period 2-0 for Medicine Hat.
In the second, Hurricane Juraj Bezuch received a pass from teammate Russ Maxwell and tucked the puck in the net claiming his eighth goal this season.
Mid-way through the second period Tiger forward, Jayden Hart, took a hard hit against the glass from Tyler Kizuik. Hart fell to the ice with little movement and was taken out of the arena on a stretcher to the hospital for examination.
The game resumed in the second period but no goals were scored. The second period ended 2-1 for Medicine Hat, with shots on net in their favour at 20-16.
The Hurricanes had several chances to score in the third, but couldn’t put anything away.
Medicine Hat Tiger, Emerson Etem, scored on an empty net with 0.8 seconds left in the third period, giving him his 60th goal of the season and handing the Tigers a 3-1 win.
Friday night the Canes faced the Calgary Hitman. This marked the fifth meeting of these teams, with their most recent game on Jan.8. They sat tied, 2-2 in the series going into Friday’s game.
The Hurricanes went into the game after winning their previous one, a 2-1 upset over the Moose Jaw Warriors who are ranked second in the Eastern Conference. The Canes sit in 11th place in the East and hold a record of 27-39-0-1.
The Calgary Hitmen are currently forth in the conference and have a record of 40-24-2-1. They have won eight of their last 10 games and have a 23-9 record since Christmas break.
In the first period the Hurricanes came out strong, but were unable to produce anything on the scoreboard.
Calgary’s Trevor Cheek scored halfway through the first, banking the puck off of Hurricane goalie Damien Ketlo’s pad.
Only three minutes later, the Hitmen’s Victor Rask made the score 2-0 after his wrist shot went in over the shoulder of Ketlo.
Cane’s Jaimen Yakubowski scored his 15th goal of the season before the end of the first, ending the period 2-1 for Calgary. The Hurricanes lead the shots on net 16-8.
In the second period, the teams pushed back and forth but the Hitmen was the first to get on the scoreboard. Brady Brassart scored on a two-on-one rush, making the score 3-1.
Hurricane rookie, Sam McKechnie, ended the second period with his 12th goal of the season and a clip for his highlight reel. Mckechnie drove to the net, slipped through the Hitmen defence and scored with one hand on the stick. The second period ended 3-2 for Calgary.
In the third, Hurricane Reid Duke snagged the puck after a bad clearing attempt at Calgary’s blue line, fed a pass to Max Moline who then scored his second goal of the season.
The Hitmen regained their two-goal lead with a quick pair of goals and Colin Bowmen made it 4-3. Ninety seconds later as Calgary was heading for a line change, Trevor Cheek shot the puck from centre ice and it bounced past Kelto into the net, for a score of 5-3.
Calgary Hitmen’s Jaynen Rissling scored the final goal of the game on an empty net making the final score 6-3. The game concluded with few penalty minutes and shots on net almost equal, but in favour of Lethbridge at 42-40.
These teams will finish off their series on March 14, which will be the Hurricanes third last game of the season.
This weekend’s action drops the Hurricanes’ record to 27-41-0-1 and finishes their home season 17-19.
(Photo by: Hayley Tanner: Hurricane Jamal Watson goes for the puck against opponent Rob Trzonkowski of the Canes home game Friday.