CALGARY – A welcome addition to the Dinos for the second half of the season, Walker Wintoneak took part in the first four Calgary goals en route to a convincing 7-2 victory over the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
BOX SCORE
The big-bodied Wintoneak finished with two goals and two assists, while his linemates Torrie Wheat and Aaron Richards added five combined points as well. Calgary Head Coach Mark Howell noted the significance of Wintoneak and Richards, both second semester additions.
“Both of them are big guys who are good with the puck and know the game really well, which gives us more depth,” said the second year coach. “It definitely takes pressure off of Jorgensen's line, which we relied on so heavily in the first half.”
“It gives teams two lines to have to worry about now,” continued Howell. “With guys like Swystun playing well too, all of a sudden we have three lines that are clicking, and it's giving us more options and more of a well-rounded attack.”
After 13 minutes of clean and relatively uneventful hockey, Calgary got the first power play of the evening and subsequently sparked a flurry of offence to end the period. On an open rush down the right side, Richards hit Wintoneak with a crisp cross-ice pass for the easy tap-in and an early Calgary lead.
A minute and a half later, second year defenceman Luke Egener had an initial shot blocked by a UBC defenceman only for the puck to land on the stick of Calgary forward Torrie Wheat. Using a fantastic back pass, Wheat would set Wintoneak up yet again on the left side, which he would snap past UBC goaltender Jordan White for his second goal of the game.
First year defenceman Mike Liambas would make his best effort to bring UBC back just a minute thereafter, converting on a scramble play in front of Calgary goaltender Dustin Butler, marking his second goal of the season. With Aaron Richards in the penalty box late in the period, UBC seemed poised to get another going into the break, but Calgary would in fact be the beneficiaries.
Rounding out a fantastic period, Wintoneak hustled after a Calgary clearing pass on the penalty kill, where he bumped a UBC defenceman off the puck. Taking control of it, the first year Dino made the quick pass in front of White to an open Torrie Wheat, who made no mistake in burying it at 19:44.
Despite being outshot 10-6 in the second period, Calgary would ride opportunistic offence and terrific netminding from Butler to inflate their lead to 5-1 going into the second intermission. Richards would get the first goal, sprawling across the crease to put home a nice pass from Wintoneak, while Tyler Swystun would get the second, banging home a loose puck in front of Jordan White, who would eventually take a seat in the third in favour of Joe Rodwell.
Coming out of the break, Max Grassi would take advantage of an early five on three situation for UBC, scoring 25 seconds into the third, but Colton Grant and Kodie Curran would both answer back against Rodwell, securing the lopsided victory.
Butler made 26 saves in the Calgary (9-5-2) victory, while White is credited with the loss for UBC (6-7-2). White made 13 saves over forty minutes before bowing to Rodwell, who made five of his own.
The two teams will engage in the weekend rematch on Saturday night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. MDT at Father David Bauer.
-UC-
