A quick start has the Okotoks Bisons off and running in the South Final.
Okotoks scored twice and threw 18 shots on net in the first 20 minutes and held off a late surge to double the Cochrane Generals 4-2 in Game 1 of the Heritage Junior Hockey League third round playoff series Friday night at the Murray Arena.
"I think they had a bit of momentum coming into this and they also might have been a bit tired," said Bisons forward Evan Woods. "We had a good start and we put them on their heels at the beginning of the game and got off to a quick start with some goals.
"They were tough to play all game though. It's going to be a tough series."
While Okotoks was well rested with six days off after sweeping the High River Flyers in the second round, the visiting Generals rode a wave of momentum into Friday night's tilt after defeating the Medicine Hat Cubs in seven games after being down 3-1 in the series.
Mitch Wolfe opened the scoring off a face-off play, taking the backdoor feed from Tyler Alger and lifting the backhand deke over the outstretched Erik Garber in goal for the Generals. The Generals answered in short order with Takuro Okada tallying on the powerplay.
Okotoks took the 2-1 lead into the intermission with Woods wiring in a wrist-shot on the rush late in the frame, one characterized by hard-hitting play on both sides.
"I definitely think it's going to get more physical as the series goes on," said Bisons head coach Chris Beston. "We thought they would be a little bit tired, but they showed no tiredness at all and for them, that is their game. They want to be physical, they want to outmuscle people and we have to match it and equalize it."
The Bisons jumped in front 3-1 in the second period when Tyson Scott scored on a two-man advantage as the special teams battle continued to brew.
In the third period, Cochrane again found twine on the man-advantage with captain Brandon Aab notching his fifth goal of the playoffs.
"They've got some of the best powerplay in the league next to ours," said Bisons defenceman Travis Scott. "They snap pucks around and hit guys backdoor before you can even see it, they really move the puck well and we've got to be ready for that cross-ice pass.
"We definitely adapted to it. Every team is different, every team's powerplay and penalty kill is different so we always have to change mid-period and figure out how to make adjustments."
Faced with killing off back-to-back powerplays midway through the final frame, the Bisons made the necessary in-game adjustments to half the Generals considerable pushback.
"We've been good in the third period all playoff so far," Woods said. "Last series all four games and now this series, we've been shutting it down in the third period and all five games we've had the lead going into the third period.
"We know we don't need to score more goals, we just need to not let them score."
Tyson Scott added the empty-netter late in the stanza for his fourth goal in the last two games.
"It's nice for him to get hot again, we need him scoring for us to be successful," the coach added. "He's such a complete player and he did a lot of other things tonight I was extremely happy with like killing a penalty, winning a face-off. He adds to our team in all aspects."
Prior to puck-drop for Game 1, HJHL vice-president John Lockhart presented three league awards to Bisons players with Tyson Scott of Turner Valley earning the MVP and Top Scorer awards and Devin Reagan picking up Goaltender of the Year.
Scott led the HJHL in goals, 41, and points, 88, in the 2019-20 season while Reagan topped all netminders with 30 wins and was second in goals against average, 2.10, and save percentage .932.
Series schedule
Game 1: Cochrane at Okotoks. March 6, 8 p.m. Murray Arena.Okotoks wins 4-2.
Game 2: Okotoks at Cochrane. March 7, 7:30 p.m. Cochrane Arena.
Game 3: Cochrane at Okotoks. March 8, 7:15 p.m. Murray Arena.
Game 4: Okotoks at Cochrane. March 12, 8 p.m. Cochrane Arena.
Game 5: Cochrane at Okotoks. March 13, 8 p.m. Murray Arena.
Game 6: Okotoks at Cochrane. March 15, 5:30 p.m. Cochrane Arena.
Game 7: Cochrane at Okotoks. March 17, 8 p.m. Murray Arena.
