Blazers get past Hurricanes

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
It isn’t often that a player gets ejected from a WHL game in what may well have been the event’s turning point.
But that is exactly the situation in which Kamloops defenceman Brandon Underwood found himself Wednesday night as the Blazers, with Bronson Maschmeyer setting up three goals, dropped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 before 4,002 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
With the score 2-2 midway through the second period, Kamloops winger Tyler Shattock lowered the boom on Reid Jackson, leaving the Lethbridge defenceman laying on the ice and wondering where he was.
As so often happens in these situations, players partnered up before Brett Lyon of the Blazers and Lethbridge’s Mike Reddington finally fought. The other players dispersed to their bench areas, but Hurricanes forward Carter Ashton, whose goal three minutes earlier had forged a 2-2 tie, got caught up in traffic at the Blazers’ bench.
Underwood, playing in his second straight game after being scratched for the season’s first three outings, ended up engaging Ashton and both players received roughing minors, fighting majors and game misconducts.
The Blazers went on to take a 4-3 lead before the period ended, upped it to 5-3 in the first minute of the third period and then put on the clamps.
You might say that Underwood, in something of a quirky way, was in the right place at the right time.
“He’s one of their better players and whenever you can take off a player like that you do it,” said Underwood, a 17-year-old sophomore from San Diego.
Ashton, a 30-goal man last season, was a first-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
Rich Preston, the Hurricanes’ general manager and head coach, thought it was a case of referees Jeff Ingram and Pat Smith being a little overzealous.
“I thought two, five and a game was a little much,” Preston said. “There wasn’t even a punch thrown, was there? They wrestled each other to the ground.”
Kamloops head coach Barry Smith certainly didn’t mind the exchange.
“Obviously, that was in our favour,” he said. “He’s a great player and it’s tough to lose a player like that in a one-goal game.”
Less than four minutes later, Kamloops defenceman Linden Saip went deep into the offensive zone, fought off defenceman Brennan Yadlowski and centred the puck to centre Dylan Willick, who beat goaltender Linden Rowat to break the tie.
Then, at 18:37, a breaking away Shattock was awarded a penalty shot after being mugged from behind by Max Ross and Landon Oslanski. Shattock faked a shot before deking to his backhand and putting the puck over Rowat’s outstretched pad.
That gave the Blazers a 4-2 lead and, although the Hurricanes scored in the period’s last minute — which they also did in the first period — the home boys were never really threatened.
“In the third period,” Smith said, “we stuck to it and did a great job. We just have to do that for three periods.”
Maschmeyer, who has six assists in five games, agreed.
“In the third,” he said, “we really wanted to buckle down and get up a couple and really play a good defensive game. Get pucks out . . . chip them out . . . do the small things right.
“I think we just realized sometimes it’s about the team and small, simple plays are crucial. That’s what we weren’t doing in the first and second.”
Brendan Ranford, with 1.5 seconds left in the first period, C.J. Stretch and Shayne Wiebe, in the first minute of the third, also scored for the Blazers, who got 37 saves from goaltender Justin Leclerc.
Cam Braes, at 19:13 of the first, and Craig Orfino, at 19:27 of the second, also scored for Lethbridge.
“That was our best game . . . without question,” said Preston, whose club is 0-6 as it opens with an eight-game road trip due to renovations to its home arena.
Smith, whose club is 4-1-0-0, added: “We knew . . . they’re 0-5 and they’re going to come hard. And they did come hard. Give them credit. They played hard and they made it a game.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers were 1-for-4 on the power play; the Hurricanes were 1-for-5. . . . The Hurricanes scratched F Carter Bancks, their captain, with a leg injury suffered during Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the Giants in Vancouver. He was checked hard as he was exiting the penalty box and injured a leg. . . . The Blazers are home again Friday, 7 p.m., against the Vancouver Giants. The teams will play in Vancouver on Saturday. And the Blazers will entertain the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, 2 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com