NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Cubs forward Mason Osinski celebrates his empty net goal, his second marker in a 5-3 Game 4 win Friday at the Kinplex over Strathmore, winning the best-of-5 series with the Wheatland Kings 3-1.
The Medicine Hat Cubs are off to the third round of the HJHL playoffs.
The Cubs held off and beat the Strathmore Wheatland Kings 5-3 Friday night at the Kinplex, winning the second-round, best-of-five series 3-1.
The Wheatland Kings forced the Game 4 with a 6-4 win Wednesday at Strathmore.
The visiting Kings opened the scoring with the lone goal of the first period.
Just 2:10 into the game, Cole Tweit found the back of the net for Strathmore, grabbing an early 1-0 lead with his first goal of the playoffs. Medicine Hat out-shot Strathmore 10-7 in the opening frame.
The Cubs took over in the third period, scoring a trio of goals for a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Mason Osinski found twine on a power play 3:58 into the period. Colby Gulliver had the lone assist on Osinski’s first of the series and game. Just 2:33 later, Nolan Sutherland scored on a separate power play to grab the Cubs first lead of the night, Kyle Woolridge and Austin Derzaph had the helpers on his first of the night and series.
They added insurance with Jacob Hazzard’s second of the series, making it a 3-1 lead at 8:33. Jesse Klimosko and Makhi Carriere had the assists.
Strathmore scored late in the frame, with Josh Alberda finding the back of the net on a power play with 3:44 left in the second for the 3-2 Cubs lead after 40 minutes. The Wheatland Kings led the frame in shots, 12-6.
The visiting Kings opened the scoring in the third, with Joel Romano’s first of the series, tying the game up at 3-3 at 12:38.
With 2:47 left in the game, Sutherland had the puck in the Strathmore end and spun to fire a shot that surprised the Wheatland Kid net minder, giving Medicine Hat a 4-3 lead. Rhett Franklin and Caleb Garrecht had the assists.
They iced the win with Osinski’s second of the night as he scored on the empty net, making it the 5-3 final with 1:45 left in the game.
Tyler Wakelam picked up the win in net for the Cubs, stopping 26 shots. Across the ice from him, Derrick Ford made 19 saves. Strathmore led the game in shots 29-24. The Cubs went 2-5 on the power play, with Strathmore running at 1-5.
The Cubs will face the winner of the Okotoks Bisons and Cochrane Generals series.
See Tuesday’s News for more information on the Cubs’ next series.
