Cubs fall short of the comeback

The Medicine Hat Travelodge Cubs fell short of the comeback on Sunday afternoon at the Kinplex.

Kanen Krushel, Kian Simonson and Matt Clement all scored for Medicine Hat to keep the pressure on after falling into a four-goal deficit through 40 minutes, but the Okotoks Bisons escaped with a 7-4 win.

“We got off to a good start in the game, toward the last half of the first period we started to slow down then we had a terrible second,” said head coach JD Gaetan, whose Cubs sit 5-6-0 on the Heritage Junior B Hockey League season after Sunday’s loss.

“We ended it strong. They’re a good team, top of the South Division, so I’m glad we had a good finish but we were definitely flat in this game. We definitely could have brought a better effort.”

Okotoks forward Kyle Dunville opened the scoring with his second of the year then Kyle Harrison followed it up with his 12th to leave the Cubs down a pair at the break.

While Simonson put Medicine Hat on the board in the middle frame, the Bisons tacked on three more goals from Josh Russo, Harrison and Jharin Bantugan to leave the Cubs reeling.

Bradley Whitehead and Ben Shuskovsky added goals for Okotoks in the third to lock up the win and push the Bisons to 8-3 on the year.

Sunday featured the debut of new Cubs goaltender Josh Breznik, though it was far from ideal. After getting shelled in the second, Breznik dropped his glove and blocker to engage in a fight with Dunville in the third and both were handed a game misconduct as a result.

The 18-year-old Coaldale product stopped 18 of 23 shots through the first two periods.

“He’s a good goalie. He plays the puck well and has great positioning. Unfortunately we left him out to dry a few times in that second period, I think he’ll be good though going forward for us,” Gaetan said of Breznik, who stands 6-foot-6 and 216 pounds. “It’s huge having his size. He covers so much of the net and plays his angles well too, so all that helps.”

The Cubs return to the Kinplex Saturday to host the High River Flyers (6-5-1) at 7:30 p.m.

NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Medicine Hat Travelodge Cubs captain Quinten Karg battles for the puck with Okotoks Bisons defenceman Bradley Whitehead in front of goaltender Devin Regan during Sunday’s Heritage Junior B Hockey League game at the Kinplex.