Feature Game of the Night: Lethbridge Hurricanes @ Brandon Wheat Kings 7:30 PM CST
Tonight’s tilt is one of eight on the WHL docket. It is the third of four meetings between the two teams many has expected to be in the upper echelon of teams in the Eastern Conference. That has not quite gone according to plan.
Brandon’t offense is not as high powered as it was expected to be. With just 73 goals in 22 games, that ranks the Wheat Kings in the lower half of the Western Hockey League. It is their defense that is often keeping them in games and that starts with import goaltender Jiri Patera. His save percentage is .913 and he has a goals against average just under three. Stelio Mattheos is among the top ten scorers in the WHL with 34 points and Luka Burzan resides in the top 35, beyond that there is not much for opposition teams to be worried about.
On the other side of the ice, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are struggling to keep the puck out of their net. They have allowed nearly one more goal against per game than the Wheat Kings, this largely falls on the shoulders of their inexperienced goaltending tandem of Reece Klassen and Carl Tetachuk. They can not take the full blame though as over the last few seasons the back up or rookie goaltender has not seen much ice time.
Their offense is clicking along though and spread out very well. Their three leading scorers all have 24 points and four others are in the top 100 point getters in the entire league.
Brandon does like playing on home ice, they are 6-3-1-2 at Westoba Place. The Hurricanes are 4-4-2-0 on the road this season, this is the third game of their four game road trip.
If these teams are going to make an impact on the standings in the WHL, they need to start now before the Christmas break so that they know if they will be buyers or sellers on January 10th, 2019.
Fanshaw’s Fast Facts:
- Brandon enters after losing back-to-back games
- After two games so far this season, the teams have split the games. Lethbridge doubled Brandon 2-1 in their last game.
Leading Scorers:
Taylor Ross-LET- (12G, 12A) Has points in 10 of his last 11 games
Stelio Mattheos-BRN- (19G, 15A) Has a -4 +/- Rating in his last two games
Who’s expected in goal:
Carl Tetachuk- LET- (3.131 GAA, .913 SV%) Lethbridge native has posted a combined .948 SV% in his last two starts.
Jiri Patera- BRN- (2.975 GAA, .913 SV%) Rookie import goaltender from Czech Republic has a 8-6 record this season.
Other Friday Night Fun:
Edmonton Oil Kings (14-8-1-2) @ Moose Jaw Warriors (10-5-3-1)
- First regular season meeting of 2018-19, MJ beat EDM in all four games in the 2017-18 season series.
Red Deer Rebels (15-5-1-0) @ Kootenay Ice (7-14-3-1)
- Red Deer riding a four game winning streak, Kootenay is 1-3-0 over the same span
Prince Albert Raiders (21-1-0-0) @ Medicine Hat Tigers (10-11-1-2)
- PA has already beat MH in three games this season (2-0, 5-1, 5-3)
Victoria Royals (12-6-0-0) @ Kelowna Rockets (10-13-1-0)
- Rockets powerplay has gone 5/12 (41.6%) against VIC this season. That’s red hot.
Regina Pats (8-16-0-0) @ Prince George Cougars (9-10-1-2)
- Jake Leschyshyn has seven points in four games vs. BC Division opponents this season.
Calgary Hitmen (9-13-2-0) @ Seattle Thunderbirds (8-10-3-0)
- Heating up, Zach Andrusiak has four goals in his last four games.
Kamloops Blazers (8-10-1-1) @ Tri-City Americans (12-8-0-0)
- Orrin Centazzo has five points in his last three games, this season has 20 points in 20 games. Last season, Centazzo put up just 11 points in 40 games played.
