Canes dumped by Kings
This mini series just came down to a best-of-one. The Edmonton Oil Kings made sure of that with authority following a 5-1 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Western Hockey League play Friday at the Enmax Centre.
The Oil Kings win avenges a 5-2 loss to the Canes Sunday in Edmonton, snaps Lethbridge’s four-game winning streak and sets up the series finale between the two Central Division front-runners when the teams meet in Edmonton on Sunday for their third game in a week.
The Hurricanes got off to a promising start on Adam Hall’s first career WHL goal, but three Oil Kings goals in the span of 6:15 snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the visitors a commanding 4-1 lead that also chased Canes starting goaltender Liam Hughes in favour of Carl Tetachuk.
On Country Music Night, that little bit of gun-slinging was enough to allow Edmonton to saddle up and ride out with the two points as the Canes fall to 24-11-4-4 and the Oil King improve to 24-14-4-3 and within one point of Lethbridge for first in the tight Central Division.
“Edmonton was the better team,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “They came hard, played hard and their top guys were ready to go. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t show up tonight.”
The Hurricanes fourth line went to work early as Hall netted his first WHL goal 3:02 into the game.
The lead lasted all of 19 seconds as Scott Atkinson broke in alone on Hughes for his first of the night and a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes.
Then in a little over six minutes in the second period, the Oil King grabbed the game by the throat and never let go.
Vince Loschiavo scored his 19th of the season at 1:33, then came a pair of goals 40 seconds apart in the seventh minute as Liam Keeler's man advantage shot from the right of the Hurricanes goal bounced up and over Hughes for a 3-1 lead.
It was 4-1 right after that as Jalen Luypen made no mistake on a chance in front 7:48 into the second that ended Hughes night.
“It wasn’t even how he played, it was just try and get some momentum change,” said Kisio of the goalie change. “I thought he made some saves. The one goal he would want back, for sure. But it was 4-1, we weren’t working hard it was trying to get some momentum.”
Edmonton rounded out the scoring in the third and Atkinson added his second of the game, pouncing on a Calen Addison giveaway at the Edmonton blue-line before breaking in alone on Tetachuk for his seventh of the season with 7:15 remaining.
“I thought with our game the whole way, a lot of the guys just went through the motions tonight,” said Kisio. “We didn’t show up to play hockey, especially against a (team) we’re in a big race with.”
Not helping the Hurricanes is the other teams in the Central Division race all won Friday night.
The Red Deer Rebels defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-3 in Brandon to move into a tie with the Oil Kings for second in the Central. The Medicine Hat Tigers maintained the pace in a 5-2 win over the Regina Pats in Medicine Hat that improves them to 23-16-1-2, two points back of the Oil Kings and Rebels.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Hitmen continue to roll with their sixth victory in a row, topping the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 in overtime in Saskatoon. That makes them 21-16-3-1 and three points back of Medicine Hat.
The Hurricanes face the Kootenay Ice tonight at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre before wrapping up the mini-series with the Oil Kings Sunday in Edmonton at 4 p.m.
The two teams that have seen plenty of each other lately displayed some dislike for each other Friday night, but Kisio noted one key variable in order for that to continue in Edmonton.
“We’ll see, it can be a rivalry if two teams show up,” he said. “If one team shows up, it’s not going to be much of a rivalry.”
The Oil Kings were given seven power plays, converting on one, while the Hurricanes were 0-for-5 on the man advantage.
The teams tied 25-25 on the shot clock as Oil Kings goaltender Todd Scott kicked out all but one shot directed his way.
Hughes stopped nine of 13 before getting the hook, while Tetachuk made 11 saves.
Friday’s announced attendance was 4,015.
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