CALGARY – Torrie Wheat netted the game winner while Dustin Butler closed the door and turned the lights off early on Halloween night, making 30 saves and pushing the University of Calgary Dinos over the Regina Cougars by a score of 2-1.

BOX SCORE
 
After giving up an early goal on the third shot of the game, Butler regained control for the rest of the match, steering away 13 Regina shots in the third period to preserve the regulation victory for Calgary. Wheat and Paul Gentile provided all the support that Butler and the rest of the Dinos would need with a goal each in the second period.

Calgary head coach Mark Howell was very satisfied with his young goaltender's performance.

“It's important to have good goaltending in this league, and Butler was great for us tonight,” said Howell. “He's very steady and consistent, and he's taken advantage of the opportunity that he's been given.”

Dan Bohemier opened the scoring for the Cougars roughly five minutes into the game with a hard wrist shot over Butler's shoulder. The goal rewarded the Cougars' ability to control the tempo much to their liking to start the match.

Bohemier's goal seemed to snap Calgary into shape however, as the Dinos would fire 13 shots on Brant Hilton in the last 15 minutes, with the third year goaltender stopping them all.

Calgary would eventually find the back of Regina's net, where in the second period in a shorthanded situation, a fantastic Cougar opportunity in which Tanner Shultz narrowly missed an opened net turned into an odd man rush for Calgary. Wheat connected on his second point on the man disadvantage in as many games, finding fifth year forward Gentile, who made no mistake in beating Hilton.

The Dinos would get their second goal late in the period on a two man advantage, where after a few collective whacks at the puck, Wheat scored his fifth goal on the season.

The goal would be all the Dinos would need, as they successfully killed two consecutive Cougar two-man advantages and a late advantage with Hilton on the bench with a minute remaining. Reid Jorgensen was solid for Calgary all night long, registering six shots on goal, while Kyle Annesley notched four and added an assist on Wheat's game winning goal.

Hilton was spectacular in the losing effort, making 33 saves, including 14 in the first period alone. Along with Bohemier, who was a thorn in the Dinos side for the duration of the match, fifth year forward Blair Stengler and Ryan Sawka combined for nine shots on goal.

Howell liked the offensive pressure that his team created on Saturday night.

“We had great chances out there tonight in all types of situations, but credit to Hilton, he made it real tough on us,” the first year coach continued. “Any other night we could have potentially had five or six goals with the opportunities we created, but he didn't make anything easy.

With the loss, the Regina Cougars fall to 2-6-0 and into last place in Canada West, and will head home next weekend for a two-game set against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Lethbridge sits at 3-4-1 after being beaten by a combined score of 16-3 in both weekend games by the Saskatchewan Huskies, who move out of the conference basement.

The Calgary Dinos (5-1-2) keep pace with the Alberta Golden Bears and the Manitoba Bisons with the victory, who hold a slight advantage over them at the top of the standings. They will stay at home next weekend where they will host the Huskies, who are picking up steam after a rough start to the season.

-UC-