Hurricanes rally past Warriors
LETHBRIDGE TAKES DOWN EASTERN CONFERENCE POWER
The Lethbridge Hurricanes took two points off of the second-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League. The Canes edged the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-3 in Western Hockey League play Tuesday night at the Enmax Centre.
The Hurricanes nursed a 2-0 lead into the final minute of the second period before the Warriors pulled within one on a goal that was initially waved off.
Moose Jaw grabbed a 3-2 lead 1:10 into the third, but Canes forward Egor Zudilov’s gametying goal with 8:04 left in the game set the table for rookie Dylan Cozens to bury his 20th goal of the season for the game winner with 1:34 remaining.
At the other end, Hurricanes goaltender Logan Flodell stopped 37 of 40 shots, including a last-second flurry by the Warriors with the extra attacker, to cement the win in front of an announced attendance of 4,255 fans.
The win improves the Hurricanes to 3125-6-0, while the Warriors are 46-13-1-2 and tied with the Swift Current Broncos for first in the league.
“Obviously, it feels really good to beat that team,” said Cozens. “They’re the best team in the league right now, on paper. It feels really good and at that time of the game I wouldn’t be able to it without my linemates.
“It just shows we have some great push back and drive on this team to compete with the best teams and to just work as hard as we can to get back in the game.”
The Hurricanes led 2-0 midway through the first on goals by Keltie Jeri-Leon and Taylor Ross.
Warriors’ Branden Klatt rattled a shot off the post a little under three minutes into the second and roughly two minutes later Brayden Burke did the same thing.
Flodell was then called upon to come up big when his clearing attempt was picked off by Jayden Halbgewachs. The league’s leading goal scorer walked in on the Canes goaltender, but Flodell was able to glove down the chance to keep it 2-0.
The Warriors finally beat Flodell as Tristin Langan scored with 46 seconds left in the second.
Then it only took Moose Jaw 1:10 into the third to take the lead as Jett Woo tied it 30 seconds into the third on a point shot and Justin Almeida scored 40 seconds later for a 3-2 lead. But the hosts battled back. The Hurricanes pulled even with 8:04 to go as Zudilov scored on a backhand to tie it at 3-3.
Then with a little over a minute to go, Cozens became the third Hurricane to hit the 20-goal mark this season, set up by the two Hurricanes already past that total.
“I got in the D-zone, skated and kicked it out to (Jordy) Bellerive and he made a nice play at the blue-line to get it to (Brad) Morrison,” said Cozens. “Morrison made a nice play and got it on net. It landed in (goaltender Brody Willms’) chest and fell down and I just put it in.”
The Warriors outshot the Hurricanes 4020.
“I ended up with lots of shots, but the start was kind of quiet, the boys played well,” said Flodell. “We kind of got away from our game plan a little bit, but we got back on track. The coach showed us what we had to do and the guys followed through. We’re happy to get the win.
“To make a run in playoffs we’re going to have to beat those kinds of teams and we’ve showed it against Swift Current and Moose Jaw and some other top teams. But we have a lot of work to do. We have a big road trip coming up, but it was nice to get the win.”
Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio credited his goaltender for making the stops when needed.
“Flodell was awesome,” he said. “He had some key saves at big moments. At the end they had a couple of chances to tie it up and he made a couple of saves late. He’s been doing that ever since he got here and we can rely on him all the time.
“I thought we had a really good first period. We competed and we had a lot of chances. In the second period I thought we sat back a little bit too much. I liked our response. We didn’t quit and we found a way.”
The Hurricanes hit the road for a four-game trip, starting Friday in Saskatoon against the Blades.
The team is back at the Enmax Centre March 9 when the Red Deer Rebels visit.