The Lethbridge Hurricanes got 32 saves from Carl Tetachuk en route to a 2-1 win over the Regina Pats. Calen Addison and Jett Jones got the goals in the win, while Zach Wytinck had the lone goal in a losing effort.
All the game’s scoring came in the first period.
The Hurricanes came out of the gates quickly, with Jones getting the home side on the board just 2:03 into the period for his first career WHL goal. When asked about the moment, he simply stated “Right place, right time. Just took a swing at it and it went in”.
Addison doubled the lead with his third of the season just over four minutes later on the power play. Dylan Cozens and Oliver Okuliar were credited with the assists. Regina answered the power-play goal with one of their own. Wyrinck snapping it home past Tetachuk for his second of the season from Ty Kolle and Austin Pratt.
Both teams finished the first period 1-for-2 with the man advantage. From there, the parade to the box took over as the referees called it tight. That was the story over the final 40 minutes with neither team being able to establish pressure or get on a roll.
The Hurricanes finished the night 1-for-8 on the power play compared to the Pats’ 1-for-9. Coach Brent Kisio shared his thoughts on the penalty-filled affair. “Good job for the PK. Penalties are a part of the game, and it was hard to get in the flow with as many penalties as (were) called. Some deserved, some not, but it’s just one of those games.”
Kisio continued, sharing the effects of the penalties on the bench and his message. “It’s hard because we lose too many guys from the game, some really undisciplined penalties for a while there, and it takes some of our players out of it. We got to roll more guys. That eats up ice time and we lose energy. It was probably our worst performance for discipline of the whole year.”
With back-to-back games, Kisio’s message will be simple to his players. “Stay disciplined. We’ll sit down, watch the video, and adjust.”
Star forward Dylan Cozens shared his coach’s message. While happy with the win, no one was happy with the number of penalties in the game. “Yeah, definitely wasn’t a pretty one. Lots of penalties both ways. It was a tough one. We know we can be way better. But it’s just one of those games where things weren’t going our way. Things were going their way — lots of penalty trouble”
When asked about keeping focused in a game like this one, Cozens explained how frustrating it can be. “It’s tough. It’s definitely frustrating, just penalty after penalty. But you know you just can’t get frustrated about it because then you know it’ll just keep happening. So you just got to stay positive and focused on the end goal, and you know we got the win so that’s what matters.”
Hurricane players and coaches seemed to be on the same page when evaluating this one and moving on to the next game. Cozens echoed that sentiment. “We learned that we know we need to say more disciplined. You know, once midnight hits, it’s a new day, a new game (we) got to prepare for.”
Shooting the Breeze:
The Hurricanes are right back at it Saturday night when Moose Jaw comes to town. The Warriors are coming off a 7-3 loss in Calgary Friday night. The Pats continue on the road and travel up to Red Deer to take on the Rebels who are coming off a tough 5-1 loss against Edmonton.
With his assist tonight, Cozens now has points in eight of the nine WHL games he’s played in this season. Addison is now just three points shy of 175 points in his WHL career. Goaltender Tetachuk, with the win, improves to 2-2-0-1 on the season with a sensational 1.78 GAA and .938 save percentage.
