NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Medicine Hat Cubs forward Levi Schlosser chips a puck toward Mountainview Colts goaltender Ethan Woodward during a Heritage Junior Hockey League game on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019 at the Kinplex.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Cubs created some serious buzz at the Kinplex this weekend.
After taking the top-ranked Okotoks Bisons to a shootout in an eventual 2-1 loss Saturday, the Cubs regrouped to force a 4-2 victory from the hands of the Mountainview Colts the following afternoon – pushing their Heritage Junior Hockey League record to 6-2-2 with points in each of their past six games.
“The guys are playing really well,” said Cubs co-coach JD Gaetan. “One thing we’ve kind of stressed over the last couple of weeks is putting in full 60-minutes efforts, staying disciplined and keeping that hard work up. We’re getting it through all four lines, which is nice. We don’t expect all four lines to score, but everybody has their own job and everybody is doing it.”
Both goaltenders were on their game early Sunday, but Medicine Hat’s Brayden Anderson finally broke the goose-egg just past the 11-minute mark of the middle frame. After building momentum on back-to-back power plays, Anderson cut into the slot and deflected a shot from Carson Dingwall past Colts goaltender Ethan Woodward to give the Cubs an edge after 40.
Mountainview erased the deficit seven minutes into the third on a goal from Trey Wallace, but Chandler Aleman immediately answered for the Cubs while giving an assist to goaltender Dawsen Savage.
“That was sweet, especially right after I got scored on too,” said Savage. “That’s my second one of the season. I think it’s awesome.”
Refusing to go quietly, the Colts set things back to even when Carter Layden converted on a power play tally later in the frame, but again the Cubs responded in a matter of seconds with a goal from Levi Schlosser.
Schlosser repeated the feat with a power play goal in the dying minutes of regulation to push the game out of reach.
“I think we’re hard to play against in our barn,” said captain Tavin Stadnicki, whose Cubs are 4-1-1 at the Kinplex. “Hopefully we can carry that away when we’re playing on the road, but I think it’s pretty tough to come into this rink right now for other teams.”
Savage stopped 31 shots to secure the victory, while Woodward settled for the loss on 28 saves.
Mountainview fell to 7-2-1 with the setback.
Although the Cubs weren’t able to skate away with four points this weekend, Gaetan says he was happy with the effort his players put forth in Saturday’s spirited shootout loss to the Bisons.
“I think Okotoks has the oldest team in the league and we have the second or third-youngest,” said Gaetan. “Some rankings just came out and they’re rated the top in Alberta. So for our guys to step up and show that we can compete at that level – and we’re right there – that we’re a team that’s not going to go in the back door for provincials, that we’re going to compete to get there. It’s nice that everybody stepped up in that big game.”
Okotoks entered Saturday’s contest with an 11-0-0 record. While they nearly had their perfect start stymied when Chandler Aleman knotted the game up 40 seconds into the third period, Bisons goaltender Devin Reagan settled back into his crease before stopping 4-of-5 in the shootout to lock up the victory with 29 saves.
Savage settled for the loss despite logging 42 saves through regulation and overtime, then stopping 3-of-5 in the shootout.
“He’s playing excellent,” Stadnicki said of his goaltender. “It’s his first year in the league and he’s really stepping up and shutting the door for us, giving us a chance to win games.”
Noah Irvine scored Medicine Hat’s only shootout goal – scoring on his team’s fourth shot – however Brennan Schwark matched his tally to extend the skills competition then Austin O’Bray ended the game in the fifth round.
Ryan Bedard opened the scoring for Okotoks nine minutes into the first period.
“We put in a good effort against them,” said Savage. “I think that shows that we can play at the top of this league. That’s going to look good for us going forward I think.”
The Cubs return to the Kinplex Friday to host the High River Flyers (2-7-1) at 7:30 p.m.
