2018 TELUS Cup

HURRICANES COME BACK IN THIRD TO EDGE CANTONNIERS

CAROLINA KEEN

SUDBURY, Ont. – Kadyn Chabot, Kye Buchanan and Zack Stringer turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead early in the third period, and the Lethbridge Hurricanes topped the Cantonniers de Magog 5-3 in a semifinal preview Friday at the 2018 TELUS Cup.

Regardless of the result, the Hurricanes and Cantonniers were locked into second and third in the preliminary-round standings, and will clash again in a Saturday semi (time TBD).

Lethbridge started strong, scoring on the power play four minutes in; Ridly Greig and Cale Lyons played tic-tac-toe with Stringer, who slipped the 1-0 goal under Magog goaltender Olivier Adam.

Patrick Guay danced around a Lethbridge defenceman and found a wide-open Charles Beaudoin, who put in his own rebound to tie the game at 15:04.

Magog outshot the Hurricanes 8-5 in the second period, and scored the lone goal; Karl Vaillancourt picked up the puck in the corner and beat Lethbridge netminder Joel Rainville - an emergency replacement - over the glove to give the Quebec champions their first lead.

Chabot tied the game just 29 seconds into the third period, picking the top corner on the power play, and the Hurricanes went ahead for good at 3:50 when Buchanan beat Adam after a set-up from Macrae Setoguchi.

They added a cushion to their lead less than two minutes later, with Stringer home a one-timer.

The Cantonniers refused to back down, and inched their way back into the game when Loïc Bergeron bounced a slap shot through Rainville with 5:42 left, making it a 4-3 game.

But it took all of nine seconds for the Hurricanes to respond off the stick of Michael Horon, who finished a cross-crease feed from Carson Dyck to restore the two-goal advantage for good.