It hasn’t been pretty a lot of the time, but the Lethbridge Hurricanes keep finding ways to win hockey games. Friday night in Medicine Hat the ‘Canes edged the tigers 5-4, in a hard fought game five. The two rivals went back and forth all night, but the Hurricanes went ahead for good when they scored twice in the third period.
“We’re real proud of our guys’ effort tonight. It was a gutsy effort,” Hurricanes Coach Brent Kisio said “I liked the way we responded all night. In the third period it was an open game and our guys came and played hard and found a way”
The Hurricanes took the lead three separate times in game five, but the Tigers kept answering back. With the game tied at two late in the first period, ‘Canes Captain Tyler Wong scored a sensational goal. Wong took a Egor Babenko pass from behind the net, and went forehand to backhand, then put it off the crossbar and in to give his team a 3-2 lead. The Tigers would answer in the second period, when Tigers forward Max Gerlach ripped a shot over the glove of ‘Canes goaltender Stuart Skinner.
With the game tied at three, the ‘Canes got goals from Ryan Vandervlis and Brennen Riddle in the third period to take a 5-3 lead. In this series though, the lead is never safe, and with seven minutes remaining the Tigers got to within one when David Quenneville blasted a point shot past Skinner.
The Tigers forced a draw in the Hurricanes zone with seven seconds remaining, but Giorgio Estephan won it to put the game away.
“We had twenty guys on the bench, a bunch of coaches, and a bunch of guys upstairs hoping he would win that draw,” Kisio said. “That’s just what he does, he comes out in big moments. The bigger the moment, the better the player he is.”
The Hurricanes were outshot 41-27 on the night, and received excellent goaltending once again from Stuart Skinner. Another ‘Cane with a strong performance was Captain Tyler Wong who scored two goals Friday night.
“Sure they outshot us most of the games,” Wong said. “But I think a lot of their shots have been from outside. We’re not worried about the shot totals. It’s about quality of scoring chances. They had a lot of turnovers tonight, and we capitalized.”
The ‘Canes were without over-age forwards Zak Zborosky and Matt Alfaro in game five, but the teams’ depth once again shone through.
“A lot of our guys stepped up. We’ve made some additions that are coming in and making a big impact for our team,” Kisio said. “We found a way, and that’s what this team does.”
If the Hurricanes can find a way to win their next game, they’re headed to the Eastern Conference final. The ‘Canes and Tigers play game six Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. in Lethbridge.
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