BOX SCORE

CALGARY – Offence was on full display at Father David Bauer Arena on Wednesday night as the Mount Royal University Cougars defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 6-5 in non-conference action.

Wednesday was the second and final meeting of the preseason between the Dinos and Cougars. In their first match-up, Calgary came out on top 4-3 at Mount Royal. This year will be the first time the Dinos and Cougars play in the same conference after Mount Royal made the jump to Canada West.

After an aggressive start by the Cougars, it was the Dinos that opened the scoring at the 3:48 mark. A shot from the point by Giffen Nyren took an odd bounce, leaving Walker Wintoneak in good position to beat Dalyn Flette for the 1-0 advantage.

The lead didn't last long for Calgary as Mount Royal replied just under three minutes later. A well placed shot by Devin Gannon from in front of the net found its way through second-year netminder Jacob DeSerres to knot the game at one.

A swift skating Colton Grant took advantage of a passive Cougars defence to restore the Calgary lead at 14:19 of the first. Grant came out from the back of the net to the right side where we banged the puck past the Mount Royal goaltender, making it 2-1.

The Cougars refused to sit back against their cross-town rivals, as Gannon would once again tie the score in quick fashion. Skating in from the left side, Gannon snapped a shot off the crossbar and in for his second of the period at 16:11.

Gannon completed the first period hat-trick at the 17:29 mark. On a Mount Royal power play, an attempt from the blue line by Jessie Tresierra would be redirected by Gannon, through the five-hole of DeSerres as the Cougars carried a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

Following a shot filled first period for the visiting side that saw the Cougars put 12 shots on DeSerres, the Dinos held Mount Royal without a shot until the halfway point of the frame, and in the process regained the lead.

Off the period's opening face-off, Kevin King set up a cross-crease pass, going left to right to Wintoneak, who recorded his second goal of the game, tying the game 3-3.

Consecutive power play goals from the Dinos allowed the home team to regain the lead after surrendering it late in the first, and add some insurance at the midway point of the middle stanza. The first of the goals off the man advantage came as Tyler Fiddler put the puck in from the right side of the net. Later it was Giffen Nyren going top-shelf with a shot from the point past Flette for the two-goal lead.

The Cougars received a late second period marker from Tresierra as he went to the backhand to elude DeSerres. The Dinos' held a 5-4 advantage going into the final period.

Similar to how Calgary came out in the second period, Mount Royal stormed out of the gate in the third to tie the game. Eric Galbraith broke in behind the Calgary defence where he wristed a shot past the glove of DeSerres at 3:15 of the final frame.

At the 7:53 mark, the Cougars would take their second lead of the night. After a blind pass in the neutral zone, Mount Royal took the puck towards the net where they eventually were able to knock the puck past the Dinos' goaltender, making it a 6-5 game.

Calgary failed to get any strong scoring chances in the third period. The Dinos pulled their netminder in the dying minutes, but were unable to tie the score.

The Dinos outshot the Cougars 30-21. Calgary was 2-6 on the man advantage, while Mount Royal went 2-6.

The Dinos will play one more preseason game on Sept. 22 against Saskatchewan in Edmonton. The regular season gets underway for Calgary on Sept 27 as they play the first leg of a home-and-home set in Lethbridge. The Dinos return home the next day where they will host the Pronghorns.

One more game remains in the Cougars preseason schedule as they face-off against Alberta Golden Bears on Sept. 22 in Edmonton. The regular season for Mount Royal begins on Sept. 28-29 as they battle the Saskatchewan Huskies at home.

-UC-