As the Lethbridge Hurricanes prepare for Game 3 of their first-round matchup against Moose Jaw, they’ll try to solve the brick wall that has been Warriors goalie Connor Ungar.
Through the first two games of the series, Ungar has posted a .973 save percentage, only giving up two goals in almost eight periods of action.
“We’re a little bit snake-bitten right now,” said ‘Canes defenceman Joe Arntsen.
“We can’t seem to find the back of the net, but we’ve been like this all year. Kind of struggled to score goals, but we’ll get out of it and we’ll be good.”
Key to finding the back of the net will be special teams.
The ‘Canes power play is 1-10 in the series so far, including 0-6 in Game 1’s 2-1 double overtime loss.
Get daily National news
“We’ve had looks and opportunities,” said head coach Brent Kisio. “We liked our chances in Game 1, had a lot of chances to win on our power play. We’ll make some adjustments, but it has to be better. We have to score on our power play when we get our opportunities.”
“We just have to stick with it, bear down on our opportunities,” defenceman Logan McCutcheon said. “Snap pucks around on the outside then get shots to the net.”
In the other crease, ‘Canes goalie Bryan Thomson has face 88 shots this series. That includes 52 stops on 54 attempts in Game 1 alone.
“It was a goalie battle and probably should’ve been over a lot earlier than it was,” Kisio said. “Both teams had opportunities and Thomson was outstanding for us.”
The skaters in front of Thomson are looking to give him more support as the series shifts back to the Enmax Centre and the ‘Canes try securing what’s been an elusive playoff win for this group.
“He’s been awesome for us this series, so I think it’s our turn now to go out… and get some goals for him,” McCutcheon said.
“A lot of these guys haven’t won a game before in playoffs, so we have to get that first one, get that feeling and let them kind of experience what it’s like to win a playoff game,” Kisio said.
Historically, Game 3 has been pivotal for Lethbridge. The organization is 13-5 in series where they win that meeting, but only 5-15 when they lose.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
-
![]()
‘Canes coach returns from world juniors with gold: ‘It’s an absolute honour’ -
![]()
Bedard visits causing sellouts, boosting junior hockey team revenues -
![]()
Lethbridge Hurricanes deliver teddy bear toss donations to AHS pediatric clients -
![]()
Lethbridge Hurricanes toque and teddy toss collects 5,200 stuffed animals
Comments