The Lethbridge Hurricanes put together a dominant performance in Western Hockey League action at Mosaic Place, scoring a pair of goals in the first, another in the second and three more in the third on their way to a 6-0 victory.
The loss was the third in a row for the Tribe, who saw their record dip to 5-4-0-0 after putting together a 5-1 start and even drawing attention from the Canadian Hockey League Top-10 rankings.
“We made a bunch of little mistakes,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “We weren’t very good on the penalty kill, we weren’t very good on the power play and got a little stubborn doing certain things in our end that cost us some goals against. A lot of those mistakes are typical of a young, developing team and it showed tonight.
“There are lessons to learn, and we’ll get better for our trip to Calgary and Lethbridge.”
The game marked the WHL regular-season debut for Warriors goaltender Jackson Berry. He would go on to stop 33 shots on the night and made a handful of outstanding stops while dealing with the Hurricanes’ often-withering pressure.
“It was a tough game, not only for me but the team,” Berry said. “I was just getting my feet under me since it was my first regular-season game but I was excited to get in there and was excited for the opportunity. Our team has to improve and I have to improve and we’ll just move on from here.”
As one can imagine, getting into regular-season game action for the first time is a far cry from simply working and preparing in practice.
“It’s very different. It’s not staged, there are no drills,” Berry said. “You don’t know where the puck is going and the play develops so much different than when you’re in practice. It’s a tough transition. But it got a little better every period and I’ll try to keep improving every game.”
In addition to what he’s seen from Warriors starter Bailey Brkin this season, Berry could simply look down the ice on Tuesday to see what it looks like when a veteran netminder is on his game.
Hurricanes netminder Carl Tetachuk wasn’t busy, but stopped all 19 shots he faced to earn the shutout.
D-Jay Jerome led Lethbridge with two goals and an assist, while Noah Boyko added a goal and two helpers. Alex Cotton scored twice, Justin Hall had their other goal.
The Warriors are back in action Friday when they travel to Calgary and Saturday in Lethbridge.
“We have a winning record and we can’t get down on ourselves,” Berry said. “We’re not going to win every game and you have to stay positive. We’re young and rebuilding, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be one of the better teams. We just have to get into the right mindset.”
