REGINA, Sask. - Six different players found the back of the net for the University of Calgary Dinos as they earned their first win of 2016 by a 6-2 score over the University of Regina Cougars Friday night.

Chris Collins, Elgin Pearce, Dylan Busenius, Alex Dzielski, Cain Franson and Kevin King lit the lamp for the visiting Dinos. Brock Appleyard and Miguel Pereira answered for the Cougars, but not until the third period when the game was out of reach.  

The Dinos went to the powerplay early in the first period after Troy Hunter was sent to the box for cross-checking, but it was the Cougars with the only quality chances. Dillan McCombie had two good looks at the Calgary net, but Steven Stanford turned the rookie's shots away both times.

Shortly after the Hunter penalty expired, the Dinos would sneak one past Mitch Kilgore, as Collins was stopped on his initial wrap-around attempt but jammed the rebound home. Collins collected a loose puck behind the net after Dylan Walchuk's shot slipped wide. His first attempt at the net was muffled by Kilgore but he managed to bat the puck up and over Kilgore's pad to give the Dinos a 1-0 lead. Drydn Dow also assisted on Collins' team-leading seventh of the season.

Franson had a great opportunity to add to the Dinos lead a few minutes later, as he was able to sneak past Cougar defenders on a breakaway. Franson faked and went to his backhand, but Kilgore made an impressive pad save to hold the Dinos lead at 1-0.

The Dinos would pick up an ugly one near the end of the first period, as there was a mess of players from both teams inside Kilgore's crease and Pearce ended up knocking the puck in. Walchuk put a shot on net and Kilgore made a pair of saves before Pearce was able to get a stick on it and make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Regina came out flying in the second period and J.J. Coleshaw had a beauty of a chance to cut the lead in half, but his wrist shot from the slot couldn't find the net. Coleshaw made a nifty move to shed a Dinos defender and found himself free in the slot, but he drew iron with the quick shot.

Regina looked to have a sure goal about five minutes into the second frame, but Max Ross made an incredible play to keep the Cougars off the scoresheet. Following a turnover in the Dinos end, Hunter scooped up the puck and went in on a 3-on-1. Hunter elected to shoot, and Stanford made a pad save. The rebound bounced right back to Hunter, who slipped it into the slot for Cody Fowlie. Standford was out of position and Fowlie looked to have an open net but his shot was blocked by a hustling Ross.

Ross's impressive effort quickly shifted momentum back to the Dinos, as they collected two goals in 45 seconds to expand the lead to 4-0. Busenius notched the first one by snapping a high shot over the shoulder of Kilgore. Dzielski's goal, his first of the season, came on a similar looking shot over Kilgore's left shoulder. Collins and Danny Gayle assisted on both goals.

The third period started with the Cougars controlling the puck in the Dinos zone for over a minute, but once again it was the Dinos who caught a break. After a faceoff in the neutral zone, Franson poked the puck around a Cougar defender and went in alone, beating Dawson MacAuley who had come on in relief of Kilgore after the intermission.

The Cougars would get on the board just a couple of minutes later, as Appleyard netted his first of the season. Zach McPhee took a pass from Christian Magnus and put a shot on net, which Stanford kicked aside. Appleyard was in the right spot at the right time, finding the open net before Stanford could slide over.

The goal-scoring parade continued just 16 seconds later, as King took a nice feed from Coda Gordon and roofed a backhand shot past MacAuley. Regina would answer once again, with Periera netting his fifth of the season. The play came after some hard work by McCombie and Tyler Giebel, who worked the puck in front of the Calgary net to Pereira. The second-year forward made no mistake and beat Stanford to make it 6-2 for the Dinos.

That was where the scoring would end, but both teams remained active, as things started to get chippy in the back end of the third period. Three misconducts were issued and the two teams piled up a combined 66 penalty minutes on the night.

Stanford would finish the game with 26 saves while Kilgore and MacAuley combined for 20 stops at the other end of the ice.

Saturday evening will see the Cougars and Dinos square off again, with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. at The Co-operators Centre.

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