BOX SCORE LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The University of Calgary Dinos will go into the holiday break on a season-high three-game win streak after a 4-0 victory over the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday night at the Nicholas Sheran Arena.

With their second sweep of the Pronghorns this year, Calgary improves to 9-7-0. Lethbridge falls to 1-13-2 and sits at the bottom of the standings.

“We knew Lethbridge was going to come out harder after the game Thursday night, I thought they played real hard and the thing that got us in trouble was our penalties,” discussed head coach Mark Howell. “I thought we stayed with the game though throughout; any time you win 4-0 against any team in this league it means you played well.”

Saturday's contest marked the second game of a home-and-home between the Dinos and Pronghorns. On Thursday in Calgary, the home side scored six second period goals on route to a 10-1 victory over Lethbridge. Walker Wintoneak led the way with four points on the evening, while Jesse Ismond and Giffen Nyren also recorded three points.

In the first period the teams traded chances with neither side showing capable of putting the puck in the net. The Dinos had an alarming 17 shots with their best opportunity coming from to the right of the goal as Corey Banfield was denied by the pad of first-year netminder Damien Ketlo.

Mid-way through the opening stanza, Lethbridge went on five-on-three power play, looking for the game's first goal. Despite holding the zone for nearly the entire two-man advantage, Calgary was successful killing off their two penalties with some help from their goaltender Jacob DeSerres.

“If you're going to be good on the penalty kill your goalie has to be your best player, I thought DeSerres was really solid,” mentioned Howell.

After successfully killing off a couple of penalties in the middle frame, the Dinos notched the game's first goal. Brooks Myers was in the slot where he managed to tip-in Alex Dzielski's shot from the point past Ketlo. The marker was Myers' third of the season and second in as many games at 13:34.

Just over two minutes later, Calgary extended their advantage to 2-0. While on the power play, Brock Nixon got behind the Pronghorns' defence where he moved in close and snapped a shot past the Lethbridge goaltender for his seventh of the year.

The second period was highlighted by a number of attempts by the Dinos, ending with them firing 23 shots at the Pronghorns net.

In the final frame, Nixon would add to his goal total. At the 15:57 mark, the Calgary captain worked through the middle of the Lethbridge zone, beating a couple of Pronghorns as well as Ketlo with some quick moves for his second of the night.

At 12:41 on the man advantage, the Dinos made it 4-0. A pass from the left side boards by Brett Bartman found Nixon in front of the goal where he went top-shelf for his ninth of the season to record the hat-trick.

“I got some nice passes tonight and was able to find the net. It was a couple of key goals for a key two points,” said Nixon.

DeSerres made 32 stops on the night, collecting his second shutout in three appearances. At the other end of the rink, Ketlo turned aside 52 shots for Lethbridge as he fell to 0-9-0 on the year.

“We had too many off-nights, too many splits at home in the first half,” explained Nixon. “We looked at this series as a must sweep and the boys stepped up and got it done.”

With the conclusion of this series, Calgary will now go on the Christmas break. The Dinos return to action in 2013 on Jan. 4-5 as they visit the UBC Thunderbirds. After the turn of the calendar, the Pronghorns will be in Regina to battle the Cougars from Jan. 4-5.

-UC-