Cubs take series lead on back of offense

By James Tubb on February 19, 2022.

The Medicine Hat Cubs got the start they wanted in Thursday night’s playoff opener.

Two goals in the first three minutes and 30 saves from net minder Dawsen Savager propelled the Cubs to a 1-0 series lead over the Coaldale Copperheads with a 6-2 win.

Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong said taking the first game is important to getting off on the right foot and he said he thinks the Cubs did just that.

“You never know after a bit of a layoff how the guy were but I sensed that we were ready to go,” Wong said. “We’ve had some good practices through the week and I think that just shows that we’re a determined bunch making sure we go a long ways here in the playoffs.”

The Cubs had a first round bye after finishing the regular season in second place of the South division with a record of 25-8-3.

Wong said he was really happy with how the Cubs played in the win but said he’s critical of their play in the defensive zone.

“I think that’s where we really have to look at shoring up some things,” Wong said. “We just left them too many looks and we gave them too many opportunities and I think we are better than that. We’ve talked about that, we’ll address it some more before we play them Saturday.

Connor Miller scored twice for the Cubs in the win as Gerret Harty, Ethan Machan, Callen Prosofsky and Levi Schlosser rounded out the scoring with one each.

They will take the series lead and hit the road Saturday for Coaldale for game two of the series before returning to the Kinplex Sunday, for game three that gets underway at 8 p.m.

Wong said they can’t take their foot off the gas when they play on the road.

“You have to be prepared to go in there, it’s a little more of a hostile environment,” Wong said. “So you have to be ready for the challenge, you have to be ready to play playoff hockey in the visiting teams barn. We will be ready for that I think. Our guys have shown they’ve got some speed and we look forward to Saturday night in Coaldale.

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