CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos celebrated five graduating players before Friday night's game, then sent them off in style with a 5-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns at Father David Bauer Arena.
Five Dinos got on the board while
Brodan Salmond made 14 saves for the shutout. Nikolas Amundrud made an incredible 48 saves for the Pronghorns.
The Dinos came out of the gate strong, throwing multiple chances on net, and it did not take them long to take the lead.
Sahvan Khaira shook off his check as he made his way into the slot and beat Amundrud to make it 1-0 at 2:58 into the period with his first as a Dino.
Luke Harrison increased the Dinos' lead one minute later when
Tim Vanstone made his way from behind the net to the high slot and fired a shot at Amundrud. The rebound bounced to his left where Harrison was waiting to put it home.
Vanstone gave the Dinos a 3-0 lead after following through on a rebound set up by an excellent play from
Dallas Hines making it past multiple checks.
The Dinos did not let off pressure in the second period, continuing to dominate the pace.
Mitch Cook carried the puck in from the neutral zone and fired a shot beating Amundrud glove side to make it 4-0 five minutes into the period.
James Shearer would make it 5-0 on a shorthanded odd man rush halfway through the third.
"We still have a chance to get to third, a lot of things need to happen in our favour," said Vanstone. "We just need to keep moving forward, we'll stick to the same game plan, get the two points tomorrow for a four-point weekend, give us the best chance to see where we end up in the standings."
These two teams will meet again Saturday night in Lethbridge for the final regular season game of the year, puck drop is at 7 p.m. at the Nicholas Sheran Arena. A win for the Dinos would put them in the third seed for the Canada West playoffs, which start next week with a best-of-three quarter-final series beginning Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.
Prior to the game, the Dinos honoured graduating seniors
Graham Black,
Mitch Cook,
Robbie Fisher,
Dane Gibson, and
Coda Gordon in a pre-game ceremony.
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