Strathmore Wheatland Kings forward Braden Tanner celebrating his third period goal against Medicine Hat (Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin)

By Scott Roblin

Sweep Stymied

Cubs falter early in Game 3 loss, series shifts back to Strathmore

Feb 16, 2020 | 10:44 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Holding an opponent to three shots in a period usually bodes well for a team’s chances at picking up a victory.

That wasn’t the case Sunday for the Medicine Hat Cubs however, as they lost out on a chance at a three-game sweep over the Strathmore Wheatland Kings at home.

Medicine Hat allowed two goals on their first three shots against in Game 3 of their best-of-five first round series against Strathmore, eventually falling by a 6-4 final.

“We came out lazy, not ready to play,” said Cubs forward Cooper Hilworth. “The atmosphere was pretty bad coming out like that. We didn’t get each other up on the bench, no tapping helmets, nothing like that. So, it’s just a bad start to the game and it kind of went down hill from there.”

Despite outshooting the Wheatland Kings 7-3 over the opening 20 minutes of play, the Cubs found themselves trailing at the intermission after goals from Ryan Leeper and Jaycob Masciangelo.

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Those goals broke up a 132 minute shutout streak from Cubs netminder Logan Leroux, who posted back-to-back shutouts in the first two games of the series.

“Leroux stood on his head last game and the game before that,” said winger Tristan Stensrud. “He’s battled for us pretty hard, those first two goals really put a damper on things and stressed the team out for sure.”

Strathmore made it a 3-0 game just over six minutes into the second period thanks to a marker from Jayden Hendricks.

It wasn’t until the late stages of the second frame that Medicine Hat’s offence began to pick up, with defenceman Desmond Crawford ripping a wrist shot from the left circle past Wheatland Kings goaltender Brett Willan.

However, the Cubs would have to play comeback hockey the rest of the way.

“We didn’t start pushing until five or 10 minutes left in that second period,” said Cubs co-head coach J.D. Gaetan. “We started to find our legs then, but it was definitely the slow start that hurt us.”

Strathmore leading scorer Garret Vander Ploeg was able to restore his team’s three-goal lead 43 seconds into the third period, tucking a shot past the pad of Leroux.

A pair of Cubs goals by Noah Irvine and Hilworth in the following five minutes gave Medicine Hat some life however, reducing the Wheatland Kings lead to just 4-3.

Just as Medicine Hat appeared to have the visitors on the ropes though, Strathmore responded with back-to-back goals minutes later by Braden Tanner and Kobe Gosling to silence any hope of a comeback.

“As soon as we scored, we came back out flat-footed instead of just keeping on going,” said Hilworth. “There was no momentum throughout the whole game. It was like one shift had momentum, the next one wasn’t consistent.

Cubs assistant captain Mason Fischer tacked on a late power play goal to make it a 6-4 game, but the Wheatland Kings were able to wind down the clock to stave off elimination and keep the series alive.

All but four members of the Wheatland Kings found the scoreboard on Sunday, while Irvine had a goal and an assist in the loss for Medicine Hat.

Willan was credited with the win after posting 32 saves against the Cubs, dealing Leroux his first loss of the post-season after allowing six goals on 25 shots.

Medicine Hat will have another shot at closing out the series on Monday night in Strathmore, a barn which Gaetan said his team enjoys playing in.

“We play well in that rink,” said Gaetan. “It’s a big ice surface and we have guys that can skate very well. So, we’re pretty confident going into that rink.”

Game 4 of the first round series goes at 7:45 pm from the Strathmore Family Centre Arena on Monday, while a Game 5 if necessary would be held Tuesday at the Kinplex at 8:15 pm.