BOX SCORE

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan got on the board early and didn't look back at they defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 4-1 in Game 2 of the best-of-three Canada West Final at the Rutherford Rink Saturday night.

Only a late goal would find the back of the net for Calgary as the home team took control of the game early, leading to tempers flaring in the third period, setting the stage for a one-game winner-take-all showdown forr the conference title - and a trip to nationals - Sunday night at 7 p.m.

“I thought our first ten minutes were good,” said Dinos head coach Mark Howell. “We missed a couple of opportunities to take the lead, and then they pushed back.”

The Dinos responded after a sluggish first period the previous night with a better effort in the opening frame of Game 2. For every scoring chance Calgary developed, however, Saskatchewan was right there with them, blocking attempts and taking away the puck.

The home side struck the back of the net at the 11:34 mark of the first. Matthew Spafford fed a pass from behind the net to Michael Kaye who buried a shot short side on Dustin Butler.

With momentum on their side the Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 just over a minute later. Brennan Bosch ripped a shot from the hash marks as he beat Butler for his third goal of the postseason.

Saskatchewan did an excellent job in the middle frame of shutting down the Calgary attack. The Dinos attempted to work the cycle, but were couldn't get much towards David Reekie who replaced Ryan Holfeld after Game 1.

While the Dinos' attack stuttered, the Huskies went looking for more and would pot their third goal of the night at the 16:24 of the second stanza. After being denied on a no-goal call at the goal line on their last shift, the Saskatchewan power play made up for the near miss as Bosch tallied his second of the evening.

The Huskies held a 23-14 advantage on the shot clock as they went into the second intermission with a 3-0 lead.

Eager to get on the score sheet Calgary came out searching for their first goal in the third. Unfortunately for the visitors, the goal would come at the other end as Chris Durand set-up Spafford for an empty net shot which he finished off for the 4-0 lead.

As the game came to a close, things took an ugly turn as the teams went at it in front of the Dinos' bench. A number of players were throwing punches with the main event featuring Blake Clement and Cody Hobbs going at it with their gloves on. Both players received roughing minors and misconducts on the play.

The Dinos crashed the net in the final minute of the game and would ruin Reekie's shutout as Brock Nixon collected his fifth of the playoffs on the power play to round out the scoring. After the goal both teams went at it again, but cooler heads would prevail with nothing serious occurring.

“It's a best of three, and now were one-one, we couldn't close it out tonight, we just got to find a way to regroup,” stated Howell, as the team now prepares for Sunday night.

The Huskies outshot the Dinos 33-23. Calgary was 1-for-7 on the power play, while Saskatchewan went 1-for-8.

Game 3 of the Canada West Final goes Sunday night at the Rutherford Rink with puck drop at 7 p.m. The final game of this championship series can be viewed live on Canadawest.tv.

-UC-