CALGARY – The No. 1 University of Calgary Dino men's hockey team defeated the No. 4 Mount Royal Cougars 4-2 in the Crowchild Classic Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The win extends the Dinos' win streak to 18, which is now the longest winning streak in Canada West history. They now have an impressive record of 20-3-0, while the Cougars fall to 16-4-3. 

Electrified and energized, both teams came out strong in front of a packed crowd of 11,083, emulating the likes of an NHL game. 

Dinos goalie Carl Tetachuk was kept busy during the first 20 minutes, having to stand on his head numerous times to do his best to keep the scoresheet blank, making 20 saves in the first frame alone.

However, at the 17:30 minute mark, in a classic story of odds, the Cougars got on the scoreboard with Riley Sawchuk scoring his 19th goal of the season by capitalizing on a turnover and sending a wrister to the back of the net.

The action did not stop going into the second period, with the Dinos responding at the 3:35 mark with a three-on-two play ending with Jake Gricius snipping the puck to the back of the net to tie it up at 1-1.

Mount Royal quickly responded by capitalizing on a Dino line change to find the hole down the middle of the ice, ending with Josh Tarzwell giving his team the lead again.

Calgary did not take their opponent's goal lightly, quickly applying pressure on the Cougars in their zone to force a turnover. Then, Gricius sent a backhanded pass to his teammate Riley Stotts, who then found Colson Gengenbach who one-timed the puck to the back of the net to tie up the game again for the third goal in the game in less than two minutes.

Nevertheless, just before the halfway mark of the third frame, in a classic tic-tac-toe play, the Dinos took the lead with Gengenbach snapping another one-time shot past the Mount Royal goalie.

In the last few seconds of the match, Gengenbach secured a hat-trick with an empty netter.

"My Crowchild Classic experience was amazing," Gengenbach said. "It was a little nervous coming into this game but the boys just kept us going, but was a lot of fun. 

"I've never seen a crowd like this. It was also amazing scoring a hat-trick. I haven't done that in a long time. My linemates really helped me out today and made it easy for me.

"It's unreal to break a Canada West record, it's a once and a lifetime kind of thing, and I hope we can keep it going."

Tetachuk made a season-high 46 saves in the win, while Cougars netminder Shane Farkas notched 31. 

In addition to Gengenbach, two other Dinos finished with three points in the marquee matchup. Stotts assisted on all three of Calgary's first goals, while Gricius helped set up a pair to go with his lamp lighter.

Both teams are back in action Saturday for a rematch. Puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. at the Flames Community Arenas.

-UC-