NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY Cooper Hilworth of the Medicine Hat Cubs takes a shot on the Cochrane Generals goal during first period junior B playoff action at the Kinplex Monday.
Once the carnage began, it was hard for the Medicine Hat Cubs to stop it in Game 6 of their Heritage Junior Hockey League series against the Cochrane Generals Monday.
A goal less than five minutes in. Another four minutes later. A couple breakaways saved, then a third. Two more within a minute of each other.
On home ice with a chance to close out the second-round series, the Cubs were dominated in the opening period en route to a 6-2 loss.
“It sunk us,” said Cubs coach JD Gaetan. “Down five, that’s a tough deficit to come out of.
“I think mentally we weren’t ready to go. I think the guys get nervous with the crowd.”
Caden Chudleigh and River Ross each had a goal and two assists, Chris Sambrook scored twice and the Generals have home ice back for Game 7 Wednesday.
Given they won Game 1 6-0 but saw Medicine Hat rebound with a 5-1 Game 2 win, the Generals know it won’t be easy to complete the comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.
“We came out ready to go, did what we have to do,” said coach Kurtis Jones. “It feels great.
“It’s still a good team over there, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
The only good news for the Cubs is that they didn’t finish the way they started in front of 745 fans at the Kinplex. Cooper Hilworth struck for two goals early in the second period, including one shorthanded at 4:27 that briefly made things interesting.
Cochrane clamped down after that.
“There’s so many games anywhere, NHL, junior A, house league that they’re down, they come back,” said Hilworth. “That’s because they love the game, they’re out there to win the game instead of being upset. You’ve got to move forward and forget about it.”
Cubs goalie Dawsen Savage was left hung out to dry on many of the early goals, pulled mercifully after the fourth. The first shot on backup Logan Leroux was Ross’s tap-in goal 58 seconds later.
Asked whether having a host spot at junior B provincials might make the Generals the hungrier team, Hilworth admitted it was possible. But he didn’t like the notion.
“We got too up on ourselves going up 3-1 in the series,” he said. “We need to get going again.
“The provincial thing shouldn’t have an effect on our play. Sure, we have a bye into provincials but it shouldn’t have anything to do with how the team shows up to every game.”
Cochrane, meanwhile, comes home with momentum and motivation. Takuro Okada and Nick Koch had the other goals Monday, while Jordan Fisher had three assists and Justin Giacomin two.
“It’s up to them,” said Jones as his players celebrated loudly in their dressing room. “It’s not up to the coaches.”
Medicine Hat racked up 49 minutes in penalties in the last period, trying to send a physical message ahead of Game 7. Jamal Kalaf’s game misconduct for spearing with 1:41 to go could result in a suspension but Gaetan was more concerned about ensuring his team doesn’t have another slow start.
If they can’t win Wednesday, it’ll be a long month off before provincials.
“We need to reset and make sure we’re ready to go Wednesday,” said Gaetan. “It was more about setting the tone, playing physical and showing them we’re still here.
“I don’t think any of us expected this series to be a quick one. Number four is always the hardest one to win.”
