CALGARY – A dominate first period by the sixth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos set-up a convincing 5-0 win over the University of Regina Cougars on Friday night at the Father David Bauer Arena.

Through the first half of the contest, it was all about the Dinos' offence. The line of Elgin Pearce, Spencer Edwards and Dylan Walchuk combined for seven points in the first period. In the late stages, penalty troubles made Kris Lazaruk work for his first shutout of the season as he turned away nine of the 22 shots he faced in the final period.

"Our team has been doing a really good job minimizing chances in front of me. It can be a lot harder only facing 22 shots a game, so you have to bear down and be mentally prepared," explained the Dinos' goaltender. "Regina hasn't won a game yet so they are going to be hungry tomorrow. It showed in the second and third period they never gave up."

The first period of Friday night's game was one of the best 20 minutes of hockey the Dinos have played this season. The team played their game at full speed and controlled the entire ice. The Cougars were held to just four shots in the stanza with two of them coming off a rush in the final minute.

Calgary grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:38 into the first period on an odd man break. Walchuk set up the play that saw Pearce carry the puck into the Regina end before dishing it to the right side for Max Ross. The veteran defenceman didn't get everything on the shot, but it was enough to beat a sliding Lucas Gore for his first of the year.

Pearce would lend a hand on the second goal of the game with the Dinos on a second-consecutive power play. On the left side boards, the former Medicine Hat Tiger fired a pass across to Kodie Curran who quickly wired a shot past Mitch Kilgore – who took over in net after a collision involving Gore took the Cougars' starter out of the game. The goal at 13:30 was Curran's fourth of the season.

The first period ended with Pearce netting his third point of the period as he smacked a rebound past Kilgore for his third of the year at 17:35. Edwards and Walchuk each grabbed their second point of the game on the play.

"Our whole forward group was really good in the first period. Pearce attacked the net well and generated some strong chances," said Calgary head coach Mark Howell.

The Dinos took a 4-0 lead with the only goal of the middle frame at the 6:09 mark. Carrying the play up the ice, Brooks Myers handed the puck off to defenceman-turned-forward Corey Chorneyko. The rookie's quick shot was stopped by Kilgore, but Myers continued driving to the net and tucked the second chance in for his second of the campaign.

Quiet through the first half of the night, Lazaruk made one of his biggest save of the evening on a breakaway at the end of the middle frame. A stretch pass sent Dylen McKinlay all alone where the forward's backhand attempt couldn't get behind the outstretched right pad of Lazaruk.

In the third period Lazaruk had to work hard to preserve his shutout. With just over seven minutes left in the game, a parade of penalties started with the majority going against Calgary. With as many as four men in the box through the final minutes of regulation, the Dinos fought to keep the puck out of their own net. Lazaruk made a number of in-close stops on Regina shooters to earn the shutout.

"We took some bad penalties, but our penalty kill was very good. We were very committed and Lazaruk made some great saves," noted Howell. "We didn't give them a lot of good looks, but we don't want to put ourselves in that type of situation."

A collision between two Cougars led to the Dinos' final goal of the night while shorthanded. Adam Kambeitz had a give-and-go with Phil Tot and scored his fourth goal of the season with one second remaining on a penalty to Pearce.

The Dinos are now 5-2-0 on the season, while the Cougars remain winless at 0-7-0.

Calgary outshot Regina 28-22. The Dinos went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Cougars went 0-for-7.

These two teams will take the ice again tomorrow night at the Father David Bauer Arena with a 6:00pm puck drop.