BOX SCORE
CALGARY – Greg Gardner's tally on a delayed penalty situation late in the second period stood up as the winner as the No. 5-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears edged the Calgary Dinos 3-2 Friday night in the first conference action of 2012 for both teams Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.
With 16:31 elapsed in the second, Gardner took a Sean Ringrose pass toward the net with an extra attacker on the ice for the Bears and fired it past a sprawling Calgary netminder
Dustin Butler for the eventual game winner as the Bears came back from a 2-1 deficit to win, gaining a measure of revenge over the Dinos – who beat Alberta by the same 3-2 score earlier this week at the SAIT tournament and had won both previous regular season meetings between the two clubs.
The loss drops the Dinos to 9-8-0 on the season, while Alberta improves to 12-3-2. The two provincial rivals will do battle once more Saturday night as they head north to Edmonton's Clare Drake Arena.
Alberta got on the board first just over eight minutes into the opening period. Defenceman Thomas Carr fired a nifty pass into the slot, finding Jordan Hickmott behind the Calgary defence. In tight, Hickmott deked Butler to the stick side and slid it into the yawning cage.
The Dinos knotted it up just over five minutes later on their third power play of the period.
Teigan Zahn's point shot deflected to
Reid Jorgensen, who had a couple of whacks at it before roofing it over Real Cyr for his fourth of the season to tie it up 1-1.
Just 3:22 into the second period,
Brock Nixon gave the Dinos their first lead on their second power play tally of the night, banging a rebound past Cyr along the ice.
But the Bears replied with a pair of goals in non-5-on-5 situations. With each team having one in the penalty box, a Calgary defender sent a blind behind-the-back pass into the slot in his own zone. Johnny Lazo pounced on the loose puck and fired a shot on Butler, and Sean Ringrose banged in the rebound to tie it up, setting the stage for Gardner's game-winner.
The third period produced zero offence on either side. The Dinos had one final opportunity on the power play with 4:11 remaining, but despite good pressure and puck possession in the offensive zone, the home side couldn't solve Real Cyr. As the clock ticked down, the Bears' solid neutral-zone pressure kept Calgary at bay and forced the Dinos to ice the puck twice in the final minute of play.
After the Dinos held a 10-6 advantage on the shot clock in the opening period, the Bears dominated the final 40 minutes with 25 against just 14 for Calgary. Alberta finished with a 32-24 advantage in shots on goal.
The Dinos had most of their chances, and both of their goals, on their seven power play opportunities. Alberta went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, though two of those power plays were short-lived with the Bears called for penalties of their own.
Cyr stopped 22 of the 24 shots fired his way to win his eighth game of the season, with both Calgary goals coming on the power play. Butler turned aside 29 shots sent his way and was charged with the loss, his fourth of the campaign.
Saturday's game in Edmonton will be the final regular season contest between the Bears and Dinos in 2011-12. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on CanadaWest.tv.
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