Hurricanes return to action tonight

The Lethbridge Hurricanes hit the road to begin their post-Christmas schedule tonight.

After more than a week away for the holiday break, teams across the Western Hockey League return to action with 11 games on the schedule and that includes the Canes, who are in Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers in a clash of the first and second place teams in the Central Division.

The Hurricanes resume their schedule following a 1-3 road swing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba nearly two weeks ago.

After dropping the first three games of their trip in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Brandon, the Canes avoided coming away empty-handed thanks to a 6-2 win over the Regina Pats Dec. 16 that puts the team at 15-16-2-0.

The Hurricanes enter tonight’s game tied with the Kootenay Ice (15-17-2-0) for second place in the Central Division and six points behind the 18-14-2-0 Tigers, but have one game in hand on the Ice.

The Hurricanes are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games, while the Tigers are 3-5-2-0.

Lethbridge forward Taylor Ross had two goals and two assists in the win in Regina and now has seven goals and 12 points in 16 games since coming over in a trade from the Spokane Chiefs Nov. 4.

The Canes power play went 4-for-7 in the win over the Pats for a 29.1 success rate this season, second in the league behind the Swift Current Broncos (33.8 per cent). However, their power play is ranked 14th in the league at 76 per cent with 30 man-advantage goals allowed in 125 chances.

Lethbridge captain Giorgio Estephan is just outside of the top-10 scoring with 15 goals and 48 points 33 games, good for 12th in the league.

The Tigers are led offensively by Mark Rassell, who has netted 28 goals in 34 games this year, good for 43 points.

The teams face off in a rematch Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre.