Hurricanes top Tigers

By DALE WOODARD on March 9, 2019.

In the race for first place in the Central Division, the Lethbridge Hurricanes have kept pace with the team they’re neck-and-neck with.

The ‘Canes defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-2 in Western Hockey League play Friday night at the Enmax Centre.

The win moves the ‘Canes to 37-18-5-5 and keeps them tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings (38-18-4-4) in the battle for top spot in the Central Division.

The Oil Kings defeated the Calgary Hitmen 5-1 Friday night in Calgary and have a game in hand on the ‘Canes.

On a night when the ‘Canes handed out the regular season hardware during their pre-game awards ceremony, the hosts awarded the crowd with a pair of goals from Taylor Ross and Dylan Cozens that snapped a 2-2 tie and powered Lethbridge to their fifth straight win.

“I think we played a pretty solid game overall,” said Hurricanes forward Zachary Cox, who netted his 11th of the season 3:57 into the second period to put Lethbridge up 2-1. “A couple of minutes were a little lackadaisical, but in the third period we picked it up and those two goals really helped us.”

The teams exchanged goals in the first period and Canes captain Jordy Bellerive became the fifth Hurricane to hit the 30-goal plateau 5:46 into the first, but Medicine Hat’s Baxter Anderson evened things up after 20 minutes with his fourth of the season.

After Cox made it 2-1, the Tigers went to the man advantage went and netted the equalizer as Brett Kemp tapped home a nice power play feed from James Hamblin to make it 2-2 after two periods.

But Ross and Cozens’ quick snipes in the opening 3:16 of the third handed the Hurricanes a lead they didn’t give back.

“Iâ€ˆthink we had a slow first period, but we definitely dominated in the second period,” said Kemp, whose goal was his 28th of the season. “Then in the third they came at us a little harder and we would have liked to go harder at them. But they were hot tonight and they were able to get the two points.”

Cox skated on a fourth line with Scott Mahovlich and Jackson Shepard, who drew assists on his goal.

“I love playing with those guys,” said Cox. “We all work hard. We’re getting closer every game and work well together.”

The Tigers (32-26-4-2) and the 32-25-4-2 Red Deer Rebels – who beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-3 Friday – are tied for the two final wild card spots, two points up on the Wheaties.

The Tigers host the Wheat Kings tonight at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re taking every game as a playoff game,” said Kemp.â€ˆ”It’s a tight race, so I think that’s our mindset right now.”