In Western Hockey League career that spans five seasons, Brad Morrison has 101 regular-season goals.
Safe to say the 101st, the one he blew past Prince George Cougars goalie Taylor Gauthier early in the second period Friday night at CN Centre, will stand as one of his most memorable.
It was pretty to watch, to say the least.
The 20-year-old Prince George native was on the forecheck in the Cougars' end when he chipped the puck off the boards behind Cougars defenceman Ryan Schoettler, came out of the corner and put the puck between his own legs as he reached back and lifted a high shot in behind Gauthier.
That goal, 4:08 into the second period, came in the midst of a three-goal outburst that put the Hurricanes ahead 4-1 and they never looked back, beating the Cougars 6-2.
Jordy Bellerive fired a hat trick to lift the 'Canes to their 23rd win of the season.
Always an exciting player to watch, Morrison has been everything the Hurricanes hoped when they dealt 20-year-old defenceman Brennan Riddle to the Vancouver Giants for Morrison, who played his first four seasons for the Cougars.
A couple minutes before he scored Friday, Morrison drew the first assist on linemate Bellerive's tip-in which broke open a 1-1 deadlock, 1:46 into the second period. It was Morrison's 11th point in six games since the trade, including five goals.
Jake Elmer followed up 25 seconds after Morrison's goal, finding a chink in Gauthier's armour on a routine shot that tricked though his legs. That spelled the end of the night for the 16-year-old rookie goalie. Gauthier was replaced by Isaiah DiLaura after allowing four goals on 13 shots in 24:33 of game time.
The Cougars didn't have much pushback until late in the period, when defenceman Joel Lakusta led the rush and sent a perfect forward pass to Josh Curtis streaking in behind enemy lines and he made it count for his second goal of the game.
But just 32 seconds later, on a delayed penalty call, Bellerive snuck a wristshot through a maze of bodies obscuring the vision of DiLaura.
The Cougars had a two-man advantage for nearly two minutes near the midpoint of the period but were held to only a couple of shots. The Cougars started the game with the league's 19th-ranked power play, working at a 17.6 per cent success rate.
The Hurricanes dodged another bullet late in the game when the Cougars failed to convert on an extended two-man power play. That came after Morrison cross-checked Cougars defenceman Austin Crossley, touching off a fight that allowed Morrison to complete his Gordie Howe hat trick. A mouthguard violation tacked another 10 minutes onto Morrison's sentence and he was done for the night.
Bellerive put one in off DiLaura's glove for his third of the game with three minutes left, his team-leading 63rd point.
The Cougars (17-23-4-3) have now lost three straight and four of their last five games. The Hurricanes came into Prince George having won four of their last five, sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference standings. Lethbridge (22-19-4-0) ranks second in the Central Division.
Owen Blocker opened the scoring for Lethbridge and Curtis answered a few minutes later in an evenly-played first period. Logan Flodell, who arrived at the trade deadline from Swift Current, made 22 saves to notch his 29th win as his team outshot the Cougars 28-24.
The same teams go at it again tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre.
LOOSE PUCKS: A season-high crowd of 5,138 attended Friday and one lucky ticket-holder left the building with $47,323.50 - half of the Mega 50-50 pot, sponsored by Integris Credit Union... Cougars D Cole Moberg missed the game Friday, still recovering after taking a shot to the face in the first period of Wednesday's game against Seattle... Hurricanes assistant captain Tate Olson, a four-year Cougar traded to Lethbridge earlier in the season for a third-round pick in 2018, drew an assist on Elmer's goal in the second period.
