Doug Wyrostok Photo

Hurricanes roast Rebels in Game 2

The Lethbridge Hurricanes became the first home team to take care of business during the first two games of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

The Hurricanes pounded the Red Deer Rebels 8-3 Saturday night at the Enmax Centre to take a 2-0 lead in their bst-of-seven series.

Rookie Dylan Cozens paced the Canes with a hatty, while Brad Morrison racked up six points to grab an early series stranglehold.

“I loved our battle, loved our compete tonight,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “I liked our passion and enthusiasm.”

Red Deer opened the scoring 59 seconds into the game, when Brandon Hagel scored a power play marker, finding the twine through traffic in front of Logan Flodell.

That would be Red Deer’s high point. Cozens scored his first two goals of the night, at 7:44 and 11:49, opening the floodgates. Zachary Cox went top shelf to  chase Ethan Anders just over a minute later, followed by Morrison’s first of the night at 17:41.

Red Deer cut the lead before the period ended, when Josh Tarzwell beat Flodell from his knees, a floater the netminder didn’t see until it was past him.

Red Deer looked to be gaining momentum, and started the second period off with a two-man advantage. Lethbridge killed the near two minute five-on-three, giving them a major boost.

“That was huge for us,” said Kisio. “That was a big turning point in the game. The guys did a great job out there.”

The offensive outburst continued following the penalty kill. Taylor Ross, Cozens’ hat trick tally, and Jordy Bellerive all beat Riley Lamb, stretching the lead to 7-2.

In a third that was essentially garbage time, Morrison and Hagel exchanged goals to close out Game 2.

Kisio praised the work of Cozens, who continued his strong playoff play, building on a strong 2017 campaign.

“He works so hard out there,” said Kisio. “The thing we really like is that he plays hard on both sides of the puck.”

The two teams will now head north to Red Deer for Game 3 Tuesday (7 p.m.) and Game 4 Wednesday (7 p.m.). Until then, Kisio plans to let his team savour the win for at least one night.

“We’ll enjoy the win,” he said. “We know Red Deer will come back hard in their barn.”