They knew it was going to be close.
In what has already been one of the tightest-fought playoff series of this year's Heritage Junior Hockey League (HJHL) post-season, the Cochrane Generals will look to gain a crucial 3-2 advantage when they travel to Medicine Hat this evening to face the Cubs, in game five of the best-of-seven series.
The Gens tied the series up thanks to a 6-4 win at the Cochrane Arena in game four on Wednesday night, and will be hoping to keep the winning ways going in southeast Alberta tonight. Puck-drop is set for 8:15 p.m. at the Kinplex in Medicine Hat.
On Wednesday night, the Generals beat the visiting Cubs 6-4 in what was yet another close contest. The two teams were tied 3-3 after two periods, before the Generals found their rhythm in the third stanza, outscoring Medicine Hat 3-1 in the final 20 minutes.
Riley Hopper got things going early for Cochrane in the second minute of the game, but Medicine Hat responded with a pair of goals from Kyle Woolridge and Cooper Hilworth to take a 2-1 lead.
Diago Coelho evened the score with a goal for Cochrane early into the second period, before Jackson Bowal regained the Cubs' lead off an unassisted effort four minutes later. Gens captain Patrick Forde then tied it 3-3 with a goal midway through the middle frame.
Cochrane took control in the third period, and Coelho hit the back of the net a second time during a Gens power play to make the score 4-3.
Even though Medicine Hat tied it up once more off the stick of Levi Schlosser, his goal was cancelled out by Gens veteran forward Connor Stephenson in the final five minutes.
Down 5-4 in the last few minutes, Medicine Hat pulled their goalie in search of an equalizer, allowing Hopper to slide the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the night, and bring Cochrane's lead to 6-4 by the time the final buzzer sounded.
As evidenced in each of their four playoff games this series, the Generals and Cubs have been neck-and-neck thus far. Two of their games have gone to overtime, (Medicine Hat won both) while the other two ended by a either a one-goal or two-goal difference in favour of the Gens.
After this evening's battle, the squads will be back at the Cochrane Arena on Saturday for game six at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of the series will advance to the south division finals, where they'll face the high-flying Okotoks Carstar Bisons – the top seed in the HJHL this season, and the second-ranked junior B team in Alberta.
Locally, the Cochrane Taphouse will be live-streaming the game this evening, and the pub is encouraging patrons to come watch the Gens play at 8:15 p.m.
