The Cochrane Generals are coming off a tough home stand, grabbing one of four possible points over the weekend.
Tied 1-1 after one period of play on Oct. 18, the Okotoks Bisons exploded with four unanswered goals in the second, then went into a defensive shell in the third to come away with a 6-1 win.
The lone Cochrane goal was the first for rookie Henry Pahl in a Gens jersey.
The Bisons have recaptured first place with a pair of important wins against the Gens and Medicine Hat Cubs over the weekend.
Yesterday (Oct. 20), the Gens fought back from a 3-1 deficit at the end of the second to force overtime, then a shootout against the Red Deer Vipers.
The game was tied 1-1 by Gen rookie Henry Pahl with 40 seconds remaining in the first when he stripped the puck from a Viper defender.
Fed a pass by Brendan Thubron, Ethan Matiece went in alone against Vipers goalie Dylan Spackman for a short-handed goal midway through the third to bring the Gens within one. Caden Stephenson scored the tying goal in a scramble in front of the Vipers net from Evan Sine and Diago Coelho less than two minutes later to tie the game, 3-3.
After a scoreless overtime period, Foxx Doell was the lone scorer in the shootout to give the game to the Vipers.
"It was a difficult weekend overall, but it's still early in the year and there's still lots of room for growth," says Gens associate coach Jarvis Bender. "We'd like to have got more than one point this weekend at home, but there were a lot of building blocks and learning from our mistakes."
Coming into Sunday's matinee, the team talked about playing a bit meaner and tougher to play against.
"I thought the boys had a lot of fight and it showed when we were able to come back in the third period to force some extra time and give us a chance to not only get one point but two."
Bender says it is exciting to be playing at home after starting the season with an extensive away schedule.
"I know it was a long time coming and the fans were itching to see us play, so we're just going to keep building and hopefully give them a show for the next home game."
That next home game is this Saturday (Oct. 26) at 8:15 p.m. against the Ponoka Stampeders. The Stampeders are in the hunt for their first win of the season, and the Gens are now 5-4-1.
Friday night, the Gens are in Strathmore to face the Wheatland Kings. The Gens won the first game between the two teams earlier in the month.
The Vipers are red hot with a six-game winning streak after a tough schedule to kick off the season. They won the previous two nights against the Ponoka Stampeders and Rocky Rams.
"Being on the road on a three-game weekend is never easy, and you're going to be tired," says Vipers head coach Matt Michalezki. "We probably came up a little shorter in the third than I like to see, but we were running on reserves and still managed to grab the win, so I'm really happy with it."
He says the Vipers practically have a new lineup.
"I think we have just a couple of bodies that played with us last year, so we have a bunch of guys trying to find the system. Now that we're bought in and doing what I want them to do, we're winning games, so it's good to see."
