CALGARY – They most definitely showed the rust of a nearly two-week layoff, but the University of Calgary Dinos found enough to defeat the Regina Cougars 3-1 Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.
After giving up a soft early goal, the Dinos found their legs in fits and starts to defeat a hard-hitting, tenacious Cougars team with three unanswered goals.
“I thought we were pretty sluggish,” said Calgary coach Scott Atkinson. “The two weeks off showed in the play tonight, and I didn't think we were sharp all night long. We picked it up in spurts, but the biggest positive is we found a way to win. We stuck with it and worked it out.”
Caine Pearpoint opened the scoring just over three minutes into the first with what turned out to be the lone Regina goal of the night. Pearpoint took a pass from Kyle Ross and walked in from behind the net to beat Calgary goaltender Jeff Weber on the short glove side, sliding the puck through a small opening between the goal post and Weber's skate.
The Regina forecheck and aggressive defensive play bothered the Dinos throughout the opening period, and Calgary had difficulty with breakouts and zone entry, turning over the puck several times in the neutral zone.
“They try to frustrate you and we were not supporting the puck as we should,” said Atkinson. “It was very disjointed and intermittent.”
Calgary got on the scoreboard with Brett O'Malley's third goal of the season late in the period. With Cougars netminder Brant Hilton down, O'Malley scooped up the puck and stickhandled around Hilton, finding the back of the cage.
The winner came on the power play at 11:46 of the second period when Travis Friedley sent a bullet from the point on goal, deflecting off Teegan Moore past Hilton. Moore's second of the season gave the Dinos added life, and they carried the play through the rest of the period.
It was Regina who carried the play through the third, peppering Weber with 14 shots in the period and forcing him to make several key stops. One of those led directly to the only goal of the period: after a key save in the Calgary defensive zone, the Dinos transitioned up-ice and Jevon Desautels put a backhand shot over a sprawling Hilton for the insurance marker.
Weber continued to frustrate the Cougars with Calgary's Dustin Hatlelid in the penalty box for kneeing midway through the third. First he stopped Pearpoint on an uncontested breakaway on the power play, following that up with several acrobatic stops on close plays in front. He finished with 26 saves on the night.
Hilton was solid in goal for the Cougars, making 25 stops in a losing cause. Regina went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Calgary made good on one of its three opportunities.
Moore and O'Malley each added an assist to notch two-point outings, while Logan Gorsalitz drew assists on both the game winner and the insurance goal.
Calgary (3-2-0) will face off against Regina (3-3-1) Saturday night in the final game of the weekend series, facing off at 7 p.m.
-UC-
Regina 1 at Calgary 3 - Status: Final
Oct 24, 2008 - Father David Bauer Arena
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Regina, C. Pearpoint (2) (K. Ross) 3:13
2. Calgary, B. O'Malley (3) (T. Wheat, B. Nixon) 17:19
Penalties - G. Sylvester Cgy (tripping) 4:14, D. Ehrman Cgy (elbowing) 7:34, T. Moore Cgy (inter. on goaltender) 19:03
2nd Period
Scoring - 3. Calgary, T. Moore (2) (T. Friedley, L. Gorsalitz) 11:46 PP
Penalties - M. Rintoul Reg (tripping) 5:24, L. Benjamin Reg (hooking) 10:04, Served by G. Sylvester Cgy (too many men) 14:17
3rd Period
Scoring - 4. Calgary, J. Desautels (1) (L. Gorsalitz, T. Moore) 7:56
Penalties - T. Shultz Reg (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 8:13, R. Gillen Cgy (interference) 8:13, D. Hatlelid Cgy (kneeing) 8:17, R. Sawka Reg (hooking) 18:50
Reg Shots: 6 7 14 TOTAL: 27
Cgy Shots: 9 10 9 TOTAL: 28
Power Play Conversion
Regina 0-5. Calgary 1-3.
Goaltenders
Regina
Hilton 1-1-0-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 25 GA: 3 [L]
Calgary
Weber 2-1-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 26 GA: 1 [W]
Start : 7:05 PM
End : 9:16 PM
Attendance : 292
Referee I: Ryan Bonnett
LINESMAN I: Graham Bagg
LINESMAN II: Sean Donnelly
