CALGARY – The No. 1 University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team extended their win streak to 21 games with a 5-3 victory over the Manitoba Bisons on Seniors' Day at Father David Bauer Arena.

"This is a great achievement for our team and the program," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell.

 "We've managed to piece together a few wins, and everyone has bought in and they just keep delivering."

Ahead of the action Saturday, the Dinos recognized seniors Bradley Schoonbaert, Jordan Xavier and Brendan De Jong as graduating student-athletes in front of the home crowd, their friends and family. 

"We are really proud of them," said Howell.

"We have watched their growth over the last four or five years and they have bright futures ahead of them. They have done a terrific job on the ice, being leaders and that's what we want with our fourth and fifth-year guys, they need to lead by example, and we are really happy for them."

The Dinos opened the scoring halfway through the first frame. Riley Stotts surged to the net deking between Manitoba defenders and fired a shot past goaltender Ross Hawryluk to pick up the first goal of the game.

Schoonbaert put up his second goal of the weekend with his family in the crowd for the senior celebrations to double the lead late in the opening frame.

Hayden Ostir, who scored the lone Manitoba goal, continued to have a hot hand on Saturday. Three minutes into the middle frame, he picked up a rebound in front of the Calgary net and shoved it behind Dinos goaltender Brodan Salmond to put the Bisons on the board.

Just half a minute later though, Calgary defenceman Connor Horning answered back to make it a 3-1 game. Ostir got his second of the game with five minutes left in the second period as the Bisons were within one goal heading into the final stanza.

Max Patterson went top shelf for a goal five minutes into the third period, but once more, Ostir responded to make it a one-goal game and complete the hat trick.

Down a tally in the final minutes of action the Bisons pulled their netminder for an extra attacker but weren't able to thwart the Dinos when Arjun Atwal made a break to score on the empty net, securing the victory for the Dinos.

After clinching first overall in the Canada West regular season on Friday, for the first time since the 1996-97 season, Howell knows there is work yet to be done.

"We have a really important weekend coming up and we need to dial it in, be a little crisper and fast out there. We need to stay focused if we still want to accomplish our ultimate goal of winning a championship."

Sitting with a 23-3-0 record, the Dinos will face the MacEwan Griffins in a home-and-home set to conclude the regular season. At 8-17-1, the Manitoba Bisons will battle the Alberta Golden Bears with their playoff hopes on the line, Feb. 10-11.

-UC-