Raiders unable to overcome early three-goal deficit in loss to the Hurricanes
Brennan Menell and Tyler Wong each had three-goal nights and goalie Stuart Skinner made 35 saves as the Lethbridge Hurricanes defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 5-4 at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night.
The first period was all Lethbridge. The Hurricanes stormed to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes, with leading scorer Tyler Wong getting things started with a wraparound goal after three minutes of play. Defenceman Brennan Menell scored the next two goals for the visitors.
“I didn’t like any of the three goals in the first period,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.
“That got us behind the eight ball. We had to catch up from there and we made an effort and I thought there’s points we missed some wide-open nets, hit some posts and had some glorious chances in the second period to tie it and even in the third period to tie it.”
Nicholas Sanders, who backstopped the Raiders to three-straight victories, got the start in net for the home side, but would be pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots in the first. Ian Scott started the second period.
It was in the middle frame that the Raiders came alive. Kolten Olynek tipped in a Brayden Pachal shot to put P.A. on the board at the 58-second mark. Lethbridge centreman Jadon Joseph responded just over a minute later to restore the Hurricanes’ thee-goal lead, but the Raiders popped in two more in a 14-second span to make it a 4-3 game heading into the third.
“It was a good response,” Habscheid said of the second period effort.
“But those three (first period) goals definitely got us on our heels a little bit and we couldn’t cacth up from there.”
First it was P.A.’s Cavin Leth scoring on snipe from atop the left circle, then Raider Nick Heid followed that up with a goal of his own, tipping a Tim Vanstone point shot past Lethbridge netminder Stuart Skinner.
The Raiders started the third period with momentum, yet despite a number of scoring opportunities, they were unable to equalize. Ryan Bowen added another goal for the Hurricanes, cleaning up a failed wraparound attempt by Wong to bring the lead to 5-3. Leth scored his second of the night later in the period, getting a piece of a Skinner clearing attempt and deflecting the puck into the net.
The Raiders are back in action on Saturday night when they take on the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
Game Summary
Lethbridge 5, Prince Albert 4
First Period
- Lethbridge, Wong 35 (Pouteau, Skinner) 3:11
- Lethbridge, Menell 8 (Zborosky, Riddle) 4:54
- Lethbridge, Menell 9 (Alfaro) 16:27
Second Period
- Prince Albert, Olynek 11 (Vanstone, Pachal) 0:58
- Lethbridge, Joseph 2 (Menell, Wong) 2:10
- Prince Albert, Leth 13 (Paivarinta, Heid) 11:06
- Prince Albert, Heid 2 (Vanstone, Olynek) 11:20
Third Period
- Lethbridge, Bowen 10 (Wong, Pouteau) 1:46
9. Prince Albert, Leth 14 (Miller, Martin) 8:39
Goalies: Prince Albert – Ian Scott, 17 saves (L, 7-25-2-0); Lethbridge – Stuart Skinner, 35 saves (W, 24-13-3-2).
Three Stars: 1. Brennan Menell; 2. Cavin Leth; 3. Tyler Wong.
