EDMONTON – The University of Alberta Golden Bears raced out to a 3-0 lead in Game 2 on Saturday night, pacing them to a 6-3 win over the Calgary Dinos to wrap up their conference semifinal series.
The win sends the Golden Bears to the Canada West Final for the seventh-straight season, as they seek a third-straight conference title. With the semifinal sweep, the Bears also advance to the U SPORTS Championship for the seventh straight year.
Grayson Pawlenchuk scored a pair, while Brandon Magee, Jayden Hart, Riley Kieser, and Stephane Legault also scored for Alberta. Zach Sawchenko made 18 stops for his third career playoff win.
Dane Gibson,
Luke Harrison and
Tim Vanstone scored for Calgary.
Matt Greenfield allowed four goals on 32 shots, with the Bears also adding two empty net goals.
Picking up where they left off from their 3-1 win in Game 1, the Golden Bears jumped all over the Dinos in the first period. The ice was tilted in favour of the home team, as they peppered Greenfield with shots and scoring chances.
A turnover in the slot led to a partial breakaway for Pawlenchuk, who beat Greenfield for his first career playoff goal to make it 1-0.
Magee doubled the Alberta lead in the final 20 seconds of the first, redirecting a Ryan Rehill point shot through Greenfield's five-hole.
Hart would add to the Bears lead early in the second, taking advantage of Gibson tripping over the red-line, before beating Greenfield on a breakaway.
The Dinos would finally breathe life into their game on a power play in the second period, as Gibson would earn a measure of revenge with his first playoff goal. His point shot beat a screened Sawchenko, who never saw the shot.
Kieser restored the Bears three-goal lead late in the second, tapping in the loose puck in the Calgary crease, that had snuck through Greenfield.
The third period got wild as the Dinos would get goals from Harrison and Vanstone with the goalie pulled, but Alberta would knock in a pair of empty netters to keep their lead intact.
The next for Alberta is a trip to Saskatoon to take on the Saskatchewan Huskies, who swept away the Mount Royal Cougars earlier in the day, in what will be a rematch of last year's Canada West Men's Hockey Final.
Graduating from the Dinos men's hockey team this spring is team captain
Dylan Busenius and forward
Cain Franson. Both players joined the program in 2014 and went on to play five years with the program.
