‘I’m proud of the guys’: Lethbridge Hurricanes down Rebels 4-1 to force game seven

Sunday night the Lethbridge Hurricanes made sure that their fans would see them at least one more time. The ‘Canes went on the road to Red Deer and outworked the Rebels en-route to a 4-1 win in game six. The Hurricanes weathered an early storm in period one, and took over the game in the final two periods.

“Give Red Deer credit, they came out hard in their own rink,” Hurricanes Coach Brent Kisio said. “Stuart Skinner was great in goal and made some big saves for us. (Ryan) Vandervlis stepping up and scoring that first goal is when we started to push.”

The Hurricanes trailed 1-0 midway through the game, but tied it when forward Ryan Vandervlis scored off the rush. Four minutes after that, Egor Babenko found an open Alec Baer on a two on one, to make it 2-1 Hurricanes. Early in the third the Hurricanes lit the lamp again, when Captain Tyler Wong toe-dragged around a Rebels Defender and ripped it off the post and in.

“It was an unbelievable goal,” Kisio said. “The timing of it was huge, to give us a two goal lead. Great effort, and a real good shot. It’s exactly what we need from our captain.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was an unbelievable goal," Kisio said. "The timing of it was huge, to give us a two goal lead. Great effort, and a real good shot. It's exactly what we need from our captain."

The Hurricanes have surrendered two goal leads in all three losses in the series, but Sunday night the team tightened up defensively.

“We played the third period the right way,” Hurricanes Coach Brent Kisio said. “We got it in deep and kept our guy high, and managed the puck really well. So I think we handled moments better tonight then we did previously.”

‘Canes goaltender Stuart Skinner is having a great series, and was outstanding again Sunday night. Skinner stopped 33 of 34 shots, including a Dominik Hasek like diving save in the first period.

The team in front of him is gaining belief and confidence with every game, and they’ll have a chance to knock off the Rebels on Tuesday night.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” Kisio said. “Game seven is a pretty special moment, an opportunity to go back in our rink and it’s going to be an exciting hockey game. They’re going to come in hard, and we will too. That’s the way the whole series has been and that’s what it deserves.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm very proud of our guys," Kisio said. "Game seven is a pretty special moment, an opportunity to go back in our rink and it's going to be an exciting hockey game. They're going to come in hard, and we will too. That's the way the whole series has been and that's what it deserves."

The Hurricanes and Rebels play game seven Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in Lethbridge.