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Written by Dale Woodard
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Friday, March 13 2009, 11:17 PM |
The Lethbridge Hurricanes still have that sixth sense.
Hosting the Kootenay Ice in Western Hockey League play Friday night at the Enmax Centre, the Hurricanes notched one shorthanded marker and added two more on the power play en route to a 4-1 victory over Kootenay.
With the with win, the ’Canes pulled within one point of the Ice for sixth place in the Eastern Conference and can take over that with a win when the teams clash during the rematch tonight in Cranbrook.
“It was a battle,” said Hurricanes head coach Mike Dyck. “Both teams played pretty well tonight and our power play found a way to score us a couple of goals at some key times.”
With less than five minutes left in the first, Lethbridge’s Carter Bancks took a feed from Austin Fyten and backhanded a power-play goal past Ice netminder Todd Matthews — briefly the property of the Hurricanes earlier this season — for a 1-0 lead.
Zach Boychuk sped away on a shorthanded two-on-one with Colton Sceviour, taking a pass from Sceviour and wristing a shot high and glove side past Matthews for a 2-1 lead in the second.
“We took advantage of a break we got,” said Dyck.
“The puck bounced our way and we took advantage of it. (Aside from) the shorthanded goal, we had a penalty five-on-three. But other than that I thought our PK did a great job on five-on-four.”
The Hurricanes bagged their third special teams goal of the game midway through the third when Dwight King grabbed the puck at the top of the circle and wristed a shot past Matthews for a 3-1 lead.
Boychuk added his second of the night with the Hurricanes only even strength goal with 3:40 remaining to round out the scoring.
“I think after the Edmonton game (a 2-1 loss) we did a lot of soul-searching,” said Boychuk, who skated with Bancks and Kyle Beach.
“We changed up the lines a little bit. Kyle and Colton switched roles a little bit, so that was good to see and I think it showed out on the ice.”
Bancks posted a three-point night with a goal and two assists, drawing a helper on Boychuk’s second goal of the game.
“Carter and I are really close, we hang out a lot,” said Boychuk.
“I think we look at each other as key guys on this team and if we’re going it gives our team a better chance to win.
“So that’s what it’s like for the top six guys and the top four D-men.”
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