CALGARY – Kyle Annesley had two goals and two assists and Dinos goaltender Jeff Weber made 25 saves as Calgary bludgeoned the fourth-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies by a score of 7-0 at Father David Bauer Arena Saturday night.
BOX SCORE
With the victory, the Dinos improve to 8-13-1, while the Huskies drop their fourth straight contest and are now 14-8-2. It is the Dinos first weekend sweep since the weekend of Oct. 24 against Regina.
Calgary, who needed the win desperately to keep pace with the UBC T-Birds for the final Canada West playoff spot, scored six second-period goals after a competitive first period.
It was the Huskies who came strong out of the gates, controlling play for over half of the first frame. However Calgary began to settle down after a fantastic poke check by Weber on a streaking David Linsley midway through the period, one of many Saskatchewan chances throughout the game. Soon thereafter at the 18:13 mark, it was Annesley redirecting a Travis Friedley shot past Saskatchewan goaltender Russell Monette which sent the Dinos into the locker room with the 1-0 lead.
The flood gates came crashing down in the second period, as six different Dinos registered a goal, including Annesley finding his second of the game on a 5 on 3 power play opportunity for the Dinos. The two man advantage was one of four such situations the Dinos found themselves with throughout the game, making good on two of them.
The aforementioned Monette, who started the second game of the weekend series in relief of Jeff Harvey, was torn apart by the Dinos offence and was pulled halfway through the second to give Harvey a chance to redeem himself after a rough Friday outing.
The fourth year netminder had no such luck, however, letting in three goals on four shots to end the second period, with two of those goals coming on Calgary two-man advantages. Monette re-entered the game after the intermission and stopped the bleeding with the third period shutout, but the damage was done.
Along with Annesley, Calgary received markers from Jevon Desautels, Logan Gorsalitz, Brock Nixon, Aaron Richards and Teegan Moore. Defenseman Jerrid Sauer added three assists, and spearheaded a spectacular Dinos defensive effort where countless Huskies scoring opportunities were negated via blocked shots and deflections.
Weber conserved the shutout amidst a strong Saskatchewan offensive push in the third, making 13 saves including a couple of diving efforts in the final period.
In what will likely be a long drive back to Saskatoon, the Saskatchewan Huskies must now find a way to refocus as they attempt to get out of their current four-game skid. Their next crack at doing so will be against UBC in their home barn next weekend.
The Dinos, who have had their fair share of losses, would love nothing more than to build on their current good fortunes in the coming weeks. They will hit the road next weekend as the Manitoba Bisons play host for a two game weekend set.
-UC-
