The Campbell River Hurricanes stormed through the Doug Bondue Arena on Saturday, taking out the Tri-Port Midget Wild in their first home game of season.
The Wild were coming off back-to-back road wins over the Cowichan Valley Capitals and the Nanaimo Clippers where forward Bree-Anna Henderson racked up four goals in two games, before running into the very formidable Hurricanes team in Port Alice.
The Hurricanes and the Wild both came out of the dressing room ready to go, but it was the Hurricanes who made their presence known by controlling possession of the puck right from the first whistle, which allowed Camryn Hockley to open up the scoring by knocking in a rebound at the side of the Wild’s net just 18:43 into the first period.
Mandy Foldy would answer back less than a minute later off a beauty of a pass from Mackenzie Murgatroyd. Foldy blasted a hard wrister from the slot past the Hurricanes’ goalie Ashley Hogg, tying the game 1-1.
The Hurricanes won the puck at the next face-off and came right back down the ice. Tatum Feeney went up top with a wrist shot of her own, sending the puck past the Wild’s goalie Avary Miller’s outstretched glove at 17:37, putting them back in the lead by one.
The Wild immediately came back down the ice into the Hurricane’s zone, where captain Kerrigan Sharpe found herself with the puck in front of the net, ripping it past Hogg at 16:36 to tie it back up 2-2.
The game was a back-and-forth battle for puck possession from there, with both teams getting numerous chances on each other’s net, trying their hardest to take the lead.
With 6:22 left in the first, the Wild took a tripping penalty which cost them big. The Hurricanes’ Lauren Bull ended up converting on the ensuing power play with a long point shot through traffic to take the lead back 3-2 before the end of the period.
Neither team was able to make it on the scoreboard in the second, effectively stalemating each other, with Miller hanging tough making plenty of great saves to help keep the game close.
In the third, the Wild knew they were down and came out aggressive, hunting for the tying goal.
Hogg stood her ground, making a few key saves to keep her team in the lead, until Kayle Majic got the pass and unleashed a slap shot, which bounced off Miller and into the net at 16:08 to make it 4-2 for the Hurricanes.
With 11:38 left in the game, the Wild started to get frustrated and ended up taking a bodychecking penalty.
The Hurricanes capitalized again on the power play, with Sydney Cole shooting the puck past Miller to give them a strong 5-2 lead, and that’s how the game came to an end.
Hogg ended up turning away roughly 20-25 shots to secure the victory for her team.
The Wild will look to regroup with two back-to-back home games against the Juan De Fuca Grizzlies Nov. 4-5 at the Chilton Regional Arena in Port McNeill. Come out and cheer on the Wild!
