Cubs get back in win column with victory on Sunday

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jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat Cubs ended the weekend with a much needed win.

The Cubs lost 4-2 Saturday at Strathmore against the Wheatland Kings, a second-straight loss, bouncing back to beat the Red Deer Vipers 7-4 Sunday at the Kinplex.

“We needed this win,” head coach Randy Wong said. “I don’t feel like we played that strong in the last three games prior to this, we were good in pieces, but not good enough to win the hockey game. So we needed this one at home. We have a couple more home games next weekend, so it’s nice to get back on a roll if we can and this was the starting point for us.”

The Cubs split a second weekend in a row after a 6-5 win over the High River Flyers on Oct. 18 and a 4-1 loss to the Okotoks Bisons on Oct. 19. Before Sunday’s win, Wong says they discussed what they had done and how they hadn’t reached the level of play they’ve showed to start the season. He says the players wanted to know what they could do better and Wong says it comes down to accountability, which they saw Sunday.

“When you ride the wave and you’re successful, what does it take to be successful and stay successful,” Wong said. “We faltered in bits where we didn’t have that energy level that it takes to win games consistently. So we had a good start (Sunday) and that was all we did – we had a good start and we just have to make sure that we understand what happened in these last couple weekends where we split games, that we get back on our focus.”

Denyn Smith and Caleb Garrecht scored for the Cubs in Saturday’s loss, Nolan Sutherland had two assists. Tyler Wakelam made 28 saves.

Wakelam started for the Cubs on Sunday, making 18 stops in the win. Josh Aitken tallied a goal with an assist over Red Deer, Garrecht tickled twine twice and all three of Keynan Cairns, Tash Armstrong and Kyle Woolridge scored. Makhi Carriere and Austin Derzaph had two assists.

The Cubs (9-3) are tied for first in the South with the Bisons. Medicine Hat has a pair of home games this weekend, hosting the Cochrane Generals on Saturday (6 p.m.) and the Mountainview Colts on Sunday (3 p.m), both at the Kinplex.

They’ll head on the road for five games after that.

“We have to make sure we do our part when we’re at home; so far, we’ve been pretty successful,” Wong said. “We just have to make sure we get those home wins and then start the bus and get ready to roll on the road.”