CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos defeated the University of Regina Cougars 5-4 in the shootout and picked up an important two points in the standings Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.
Regina goalie Brandon Holtby made 34 saves on 38 shots, while
Brodan Salmond made 27 saves for the win.
TJ Brown gave the Dinos the winning goal in the shootout.
The Dinos had the edge in play during the first period, outshooting their opponent 10-3 during the opening half of the frame.
Matt Alfaro put the Dinos on the board first at 9:07 into the period,
Dallas Hines fired a shot from the blue line, and Alfaro buried the rebound past Holtby. With 4:34 remaining on the clock, the Dinos extended their lead, on a two on one chance with
Coda Gordon, Alfaro snapped his second of the night past the Cougars goalie.
Calgary was called for slashing shortly after their second goal and Regina capitalized on the power play chance, with a screen in front, Mike Eskra fired a wrist shot past Salmond. With one second remaining on the clock,
James Shearer intercepted a failed clearing attempt and regained the Dinos two-goal lead going into the break.
After an eventful first, the pace slowed down in the second period of play. Regina got the lone goal of the frame, Tyler Kreklewich picked up a Dino turnover and beat Salmond on a breakaway narrowing the Dinos lead to 3-2.
Chris Rauckman nearly regained the Dinos two-goal lead shortly after, hitting his second post of the night.
Rauckman was finally rewarded with a goal after firing the puck past Holtby on an end to end play early in the third period, extending the Dinos lead to 4-2. The Dinos were called for a hooking penalty at 4:44 into the frame, and once again the Cougars capitalized on the powerplay, Ben Duperrault tipped a shot from the blue line past Salmond. With under three minutes remaining in the game, Duperrault, with his second of the night tied the game up on a turnover in the slot.
After two rounds of back and forth overtime, neither team could find the back of the net sending them to a shootout final where
TJ Brown got the winning goal for the Dinos.
"We got the result we wanted, how we went about it is probably not what we drew up, give Regina credit, they keep coming at you, making the game hard," said Head Coach
Mark Howell. "Our penalty kill has been a thorn in our side the last four or five games, we've got to be better. We've got to be a lot sharper with the puck, follow the game plan a bit better and our penalty kill has got to get a lot better."
The rematch between these two teams is set for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena in the final game before the December break.
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