CALGARY - A rally in the final frame by the University of Calgary Dinos secured a 3-2 victory over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies to kick off a two-game set at Father David Bauer on Friday night.
BOX SCORE
With just under three minutes left in the game, Teegan Moore scored his first goal of the year to break a 2-2 tie, which improved the Dinos to 8-5-0, while the Huskies fell to 7-2-1 on the season.
Calgary entered the contest after splitting two games against the Regina Cougars last weekend on the road. The Huskies hit the ice after a bye-week the previous weekend.
It didn't take long for Saskatchewan to show why they are ranked No. 3 in the country as they opened the scoring at the 3:06 mark of the first. While on the power play, Derek Hulak faked the shot from the blue line, instead setting up Matthew Delahey for the redirect past Dinos goaltender Dustin Butler. The tally was Delahey's first of the campaign.
The Dinos responded to knot the game at 1-1 at 17:13 of the first period. On a delayed penalty call, Teigan Zahn wristed a shot from above the hash marks past a screened David Reekie for his second goal of the year.
Similar to the opening frame, the Huskies got on the scoreboard early-on in the second period. Andrew Bailey scored his fourth goal of the season as he tipped Hulak's attempt past the Butler just 37 seconds into the second stanza. The remainder of the period saw Saskatchewan handle the majority of the play, but they couldn't get anything past Butler as they carried the 2-1 advantage into the final 20 minutes.
The Huskies' tightly played defence was able to keep the Dinos out of the threat of their own end for the first part of the final period. Calgary's offence would break through however, as the comeback began at the 12:37 mark. Amongst an ensuing scramble in front of the Saskatchewan crease, Zahn's efforts paid dividends as he netted his second of the night through the maze of players to tie the game at three.
The Dinos took their first lead of the match at just the right time, as Moore picked up a rebound and shot it over the out-stretched Huskies goaltender at 17:21. The Huskies pulled Reekie for the extra attacker in the dying minutes, but a focused Calgary squad was able to hold off the potent Saskatchewan offence for the win.
Calgary outshot Saskatchewan 21-19 in the game. The Dinos were 0/5 on the man advantage, while the Huskies went 1/8.
Calgary wraps up this two-game set against Saskatchewan tomorrow night with 7:00 p.m. puck drop. Next weekend the Dinos travel to Winnipeg where they will take on the Manitoba Bisons for two games on Nov. 25-26. The Huskies return to action on Nov. 25-26 as they host the UBC Thunderbirds.
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