NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Gerret Harty looks for teammates to celebrate his first period goal in game one of the Cubs’ second-round playoff series against the Coaldale Copperheads on Thursday night. Medicine Hat received a bye through the first round after finishing second in the HJHL’S South Division.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
“That’s one of 11.”
That’s what Medicine Hat Cubs net minder Dawsen Savage said was the message after the Cubs 6-2 win over the Coaldale Copperheads Thursday night in their first game of the HJHL playoffs second round.
“We need 11 wins to win the whole league, if we can pull that off that’s what everyone is striving for,” Savage said. “When you come in with such a young team it may not seem like it at the beginning of the year but I think we have what it takes.”
Savage turned aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced to grab the win between the pipes as the Cubs took a 1-0 series lead.
Cubs head coach and general manager Randy Wong said 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.
Connor Miller opened the scoring for the Cubs 2:21 into the game with his first of the contest, finishing off a set of passes from Connor Douglas and Cooper Hilworth.
The early goal brought the large crowd at the Kinplex to their feet as Medicine Hat jumped out with the early advantage. Wong said they appreciated the crowd and hopes it continues as the playoffs progress.
“We’re here to show that we have some playoff hockey and it’s a good type of hockey to watch,” Wong said. “The guys put on a good show and we hope the fans come back.”
Medicine Hat struck 12 seconds later as Garret Harty found the back of the net to give the Cubs a quick 2-0 lead. Callen Prosofsky and Ethan Machan had the helpers on Harty’s goal.
Coaldale answered back less than a minute later to bring them within one but that would be the closest they would get to tying the game up for the rest of the night.
Machan finished off a pass from Levi Schlosser to restore the Cubs lead as they took the 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Wong said the early goals in the first helped settle the nerves of the young Cubs team.
“You don’t know how the guys are going to respond, there’s lots of people in the building and for a lot of guys it’s their first crack at junior playoff hockey,” Wong said. “You just wonder if the nerves are going to get the best of them. But I’m glad that we got on top early, that seemed to settle things down and we keep on going from there.”
The second period was a back and forth affair as Coaldale settled into the contest and outshot the Cubs 13-11 after being outshot 13-10 in the first period. The only offence in the frame came from Miller who notched his second of the contest, 9:45 into the period. Braden Van De Kraats had the lone assist on Miller’s goal.
The Cubs started the third period on cruise control and the Copperheads took advantage, jumping out with a goal 2:52 into the period to bring them within two.
Medicine Hat settled down the game and restored their lead a little under seven minutes later with two goals in a matter of nine seconds.
Prosofsky scored before Schlosser redirected a puck home to give the Cubs the 6-2 lead that cemented them the win. Machan and Harty had the assists on Prosofsky’s goal and Colby Friedrich had the lone assist on Schlosser’s marker.
Wong said it was key how the Cubs responded to Coaldale’s early goal in the third.
“They get a goal and how do you respond and I think we did a good job of bouncing back and getting those goals…,” Wong said. “It settles them down a bit, they’re not as hungry if it’s a 4-2 game, that’s a way different atmosphere….That’s what you have to do in playoff hockey, you have to drive the nail in whenever you can. We had an opportunity to do that tonight and we did.”
After 60 minutes the Copperheads outshot Medicine Hat 32-31 but the Cubs led where it mattered as they picked up the win.
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.
