CALGARY – Thirteen Dinos registered a point and fourth year sparkplug Paul Gentile notched two goals as the Calgary Dinos pulled off a big win, upsetting the No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies 6-3 Friday night.
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The win snaps a six-game losing skid for the Dinos and was just their second in the last 14 after opening the season 5-2. Calgary remains one point back of UBC for the final playoff spot in Canada West with seven games remaining in the season.
Brock Nixon opened the scoring twenty-six seconds in for the Dinos, rifling one past Huskie goaltender Jeff Harvey to ignite the Calgary attack.
In what was beginning to sound like a broken record, a costly Dinos penalty was taken advantage of, as Steven DaSilva scored his 17th on the year a little more than a minute later to even the score as well as the momentum. Saskatchewan then took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period to momentarily quiet the stands as well as thoughts that the Dinos could finally break out of their losing streak.
However the Dinos broke out in grand fashion, scoring four unanswered goals and adding a late marker to earn the big victory over the number four ranked team in the country. For head coach Scott Atkinson and the Dinos, the win, albeit one of few on the year, serves as validation of their faith in the talent of their hockey club.
“The difference is simple: we scored,” explained Atkinson, whose club improves to 7-13-1. “We have been in so many close games where we played as well as we did tonight, but lost them. It was really nice to get up on them and take advantage of our chances.
“By no stretch does our record serve as a valid description of our talent level and our ability to compete. We work really hard in practice, we've had lots of team meetings, and we go into every game believing that we can make something happen. While it's a small step for us, it's really nice to have one go our way.”
The Dinos got major contributions from a wide array of players on the evening, be it with scoring chances, blocking shots or delivering big hits. However in what was perhaps the defining goal of the evening, hard work from Gentile was rewarded in the form of a short handed goal late in the game.
With Teegan Moore hit with a five minute charging major and a game misconduct late in the third for a devastating hit on Huskie forward Travis Brisebois, Saskatchewan was beginning to show new life, making a 5-3 Calgary lead seem much shakier than necessary. However Gentile, acting as a constant nuisance in the Saskatchewan zone during the five minute penalty kill, was rewarded with the short-handed tally after the Dinos spent four minutes fending off the energetic Huskie power-play.
Dan Ehrman, Brett O'Malley, and Teegan Moore rounded out the scoring for the Dinos, while Dinos goaltender Jeff Weber made 18 saves in the victory.
The Huskies, playing without their high-profile forward Steven Gillen, drop to 14-7-2 on the year, and have now lost three straight. Goaltender Jeff Harvey showed rare signs of struggle against a team other than the Alberta Golden Bears while receiving goals from DaSilva, Michael Kaye and Evan Shafer.
The Dinos and Huskies meet again in the rematch on Saturday evening at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary at 7 p.m.
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