CALGARY – The Saskatchewan Huskies scored three times in the first period en route to a 5-2 win over the University of Calgary Dinos women's hockey team in Game 1 of the Canada West Quarter-Final at Father David Bauer Arena.

The Huskies lead the best-of-three series 1-0 and are one game away from advancing to the conference semifinal.

"The only way to gain experience is to live it. That's what we did tonight, we lived the experience," said Dinos head coach Carla MacLeod, talking about the playoff atmosphere. "In the first period we looked a bit hesitant. It's very common, very normal in big moments like this…we're learning to play. In the second and third we started to play our game and the game tilted a little bit [in our favour]."

The Saskatchewan attack began just 3:56 into the game when Kara Kondrat flipped a sharp-angle shot that beat Gabriella Durante high blocker side. 

The Dinos answered back seven minutes later on a power play. First Team Canada West All-Star Alli Borrow chipped a nice pass from behind the net directly to the stick of Rebecca Clarke, who calmly flipped the puck over the outstretched pad of Saskatchewan goaltender Camryn Drever.

Saskatchewan returned the favour 32 seconds later. After blocking a shot on the defensive end, Emily Holmes picked up the puck in her end and proceeded to take it to coast to coast, weaving through a litany of Calgary defenders on the way. Holmes ripped a snapshot from just inside the blue line that eluded Durante. 

Two minutes later Sophie Lalor netted a power play goal to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.

The Dinos looked like a different team in the second period. Their hard work paid off mid-way through the period when their top line once again produced, with Borrow once again connecting with Clarke in front of the net for her second of the evening.

With the goal Calgary inched closer to tying the game, however, they were unable to escape the period unscathed. With 5:43 left in the second frame, Holmes sniped home her second of the game, bringing the Huskie lead back to two.

Saskatchewan defenceman Isabella Pozzi sealed the game with an empty net goal with just under three minutes left in the third period.

Drever was strong throughout the night, finishing with 26 saves. Durante made 15 stops in her playoff debut.

MacLeod remained optimistic following the Game 1 setback.

"We knew coming into this weekend it was going to be a hard-fought matchup. We know we're evenly matched with this group. We'll come out and do our thing. It's a privilege to play at this time of the year. To be in a back-against-the-wall situation, we're grateful to be in it and now we'll just run with it."

Game 2 of this best-of-three series takes place on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Father David Bauer Arena.