Hurricanes fall in shootout
It was the one point that got away from the Lethbridge Hurricanes — and it was nearly two. The Hurricanes were defeated 2-1 by the Regina Pats in a shootout in Western Hockey League play Tuesday night at the Enmax Centre.
Trailing 1-0 late in the third period and unable to find a way past Pats goaltender Max Paddock despite a multitude of chances, the Hurricanes finally broke through on a goal from Taylor Ross with 6:03 to go to manage one point and force overtime.
Despite a few more golden chances in the extra frame, the Canes were unable to pot the winner and in the shootout the Pats hit the road with the second point.
Former Hurricane Ty Kolle and Sergei Alkhimov scored for Regina, while Canes captain Jordy Bellerive was the only Lethbridge shooter to get past Paddock, who turned in a 39save performance in a game that featured plenty of chances at both ends.
The shootout setback puts the Canes at 27-15-4-5 and still in possession of second place in the Central Division, but Hurricanes forward Jake Elmer didn’t mince words in assessing his team’s performance Tuesday night.
“There’s not a lot to say about that game. We just didn’t compete,” said Elmer, who drew an assist on Ross’s goal. “They walked into our barn and we took them lightly and they out-competed us. Guys like myself, I need to bear down and put a puck in the net when I have the chance. There are a couple other guys who have to do the same, so I think it’s an all-around group effort. It’s pretty embarrassing, honestly, to have that team come in and outwork us in our own rink in front of our fans tonight.”
The teams battled through two scoreless periods that nonetheless produced quality chances for both teams.
The Pats nearly struck first on the power play when Alkhimov’s chance rolled through the crease behind Hurricanes goaltender Carl Tetachuk and stayed out.
At the other end, Lethbridge’s Logan Barlage was turned away by Paddock on a close-in chance with 2:12 left in the second.
Thirty-two seconds into the third, Paddock came up big again, reaching out and getting a glove down on a backhand chance from Jackson Shepard.
The Pats finally broke through shortly after when Blake Allan got his stick on a point shot from Kyle Walker and deflected it past Tetachuk for a 1-0 lead 1:15 into the third.
But with a little over six minutes to go, Elmer cued an odd-man rush and fed Ross in the Pats crease for Ross’s 24th of the season to force overtime.
The chances kept coming for the hosts in overtime, including what looked like a wide open chance for Dylan Cozens off a rebound from Bellerive that Paddock was able to reach back and get his stick on.
In the shootout, Paddock stopped former Pat Nick Henry and Cozens to secure the win.
“You have to give Regina credit, they came out and they played hard,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “Regina battled. We had some opportunities, we didn’t play the type of game we wanted to play. We were exchanging chances. There’s a way we can play where we can be a lot better, it’s just getting pucks deep and working on our forecheck and playing in our O-zone. It wasn’t the style of game we wanted to play tonight.”
Tetachuk stopped 29 of 30 shots in the loss.
The Hurricanes were 0-for-2 on the power play and the Pats went 0-for-3.
Lethbridge’s six-game homestand continues this weekend with a tough pair of games.
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