CALGARY – After a scoreless 65 minutes the Calgary Dinos and UBC Thunderbirds required a shootout to decide who got to take home a much-needed win. The shootout at the Olympic Oval resulted in a T-Bird victory by a score of 1-0, making the road to the playoffs that much more difficult for Calgary.

BOX SCORE

“It's never fun to lose in the shootout, but we have to stay positive,” Dinos coach Danielle Goyette noted following the loss.

Calgary's only hope is a three-way tie with UBC and Regina, but  the Dinos need to win the rest of their games, including an overtime or shootout win over UBC Saturday night, to give the T-Birds one extra point. Regina would also have to lose the remainder of its games in regulation for there to even be a chance at the three-way tie, which Calgary needs because the Cougars hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The game was a back and forth affair with the Dinos outshooting the T-Birds 26 to 21 over 65 minutes. Both goalies were rock solid with Katie Urness turning away all 21 pucks fired at the Dinos' net while Melinda Choy blocked 26 shots for UBC.

The shootout was decided on goals by Rayna Cruickshank  and Jenny Mahovlich for UBC while Beccy Niehaus netted Calgary's only marker.

Niehaus opened the shootout with a right to left deke that sent Choy sprawling for an easy put in. Four shooters later Cruickshank solved Urness by sliding the puck home in the five-hole. On the seventh shot in the ten shooter contest, and with the score tied, Mahovlich took the opportunity to stun Urness with a deke before netting the winner.

“I have to be happy with the effort tonight, the only thing that isn't working is the power play. We have to shoot the puck more if we want to win tomorrow,” Goyette added.

That power play was a weak point for the Dinos who squandered nearly two minutes of five-on-three time late in the third period, part of eight power plays that failed to convert. Similarly, the T-Birds went zero-for-seven in the 65 minute tilt including 1:40 of power play at the finale of overtime.

Looking ahead to Saturday's contest, Goyette commented, “We put a lot of pressure on them. They have players with way more experience than we do but if we keep pressuring them and take away their time and space then we stand a good chance tomorrow.”

The teams take to the ice again for another evening tilt Saturday, with a 7:30 p.m. MT start at the Olympic Oval.

-UC-