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Written by Dale Woodard
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Wednesday, October 14 2009, 11:21 PM |
There was trouble brewing.
And Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager and coach Rich Preston could see it right off the bat as his squad hosted the Chilliwack Bruins during Western Hockey League action Wednesday night at the Enmax Centre.
Turns out the ’Canes skipper was bang-on in his assessment as the Bruins potted the game’s lone goal en route to a 1-0 road victory that featured a bevy of botched chances and missed nets from the hosts, a loss that spoiled an otherwise solid effort from Hurricanes netminder Ville Kolppanen.
“It was a great goaltending effort by Ville,” said Preston. “He’s come miles in the two or three weeks. It’s too bad he played his heart out and we looked like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. We missed open nets and our preparation wasn’t very good. You could see it in the first five minutes of the game.”
The teams battled through a scoreless first period with the Bruins gaining a 12-7 edge on the shot clock after the first period.
The Hurricanes came close to getting on the board, but Carter Bancks and Mitch Maxwell were unable to convert on a two-on-one a little under five minutes into the second period.
Kolppanen did his part to keep the game scoreless, fleecing Bruin Kevin Sundher in close with Chilliwack on the man advantage to keep the game scoreless.
Brent Henke nearly got the ’Canes on the board midway through the second, but fired just wide off the right wing.
The chances kept coming for both sides as Sundher took a backhanded swing at a loose puck after a pass out from the corner, but Kolppanen was equal to the task to keep it a scoreless tie.
But the Bruins didn’t miss on their next chance. Dylen McKinley slammed home his fourth goal of the season on a one-time feed from Jamie Crooks for a 1-0 lead 9:34 into the second.
“We looked at standings and figured it was going to be an easy game,” said Preston. “There are no easy games.”
The Hurricanes threatened with a little under six minutes left in the second when Radim Valchar broke in on a semi-breakaway, but the first-year Hurricane was unable to pull the trigger as Bruins netminder Lucas Gore dished out a fine poke check.
With time winding down on a power play, Lethbridge defenceman Eric Mestery sent a point shot on the Bruin goal that Bancks was able to get his stick on, but the ’Canes captain wasn’t able to stuff the puck past Gore as Chilliwack carried their 1-0 lead into the second intermission, outshooting the Hurricanes 21-19 in the first 40 minutes.
The video review judges were put to work with 9:19 left in regulation when the Bruins, crashing the ‘Canes net, thought they had the goal that was going to put them up by a pair. But after nearly five minutes of video consultation, the goal was waved off to keep Chilliwack’s lead at one.
However, the Bruins nearly got that second goal a minute later when Jeff Einhorn’s point shot rattled off the post and stayed out, sparking a Hurricanes rush back the other way that they weren’t able to cash in on.
The chances for the hosts kept coming. Mark Reners was denied on a chance in close and Cam Braes wasn’t able to corral the rebound, drawing a collective groan from the crowd of 2,821.
The ’Canes went on the man advantage two more times in the dying minutes of the third, but were unable to find a way past Gore as Chilliwack hung on for the win.
Gore kicked out all 31 shots he faced, while Kolppanen stopped 28 of 29 shots sent his way.
“Our power play wasn’t sharp,” said Preston. “If you look at our last two home games, we came out of the gate and outplayed teams badly in the first period. We didn’t do that tonight.”
NOTES — There were some fireworks after the buzzer that resulted in a trio of scraps as Bancks, Braes and Reddington filled their dance card, while Bruins Neigum, Colton Grant and Mitch McColm also joined the fray. All six players were handed five-minute fighting majors.
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