CALGARY – Connor Bouchard and Connor Blake both scored in the shootout to send the Mount Royal Cougars to a comeback 3-2 shootout win over the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team Wednesday night in another memorable chapter of the annual Crowchild Classic in front of a packed house inside the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Carl Tetachuk was incredible in net for the Dinos, racking up a season-high 39 saves on the night.

Shane Farkas was named the first star of the night after, making 18 saves in net for the Cougars, keeping the Dinos out of the net on both their shootout attempts.

With the win, MRU moves to 18-5 on the year for 36 points with 23 games played. After picking up a point, the Dinos move into a tie for first place with UBC at 19-4-2 with 25 games played.

The Dinos wasted no time giving their fans something to cheer about as Jake Gricius whipped a sharp wrist shot past Farkas just 22 seconds into the game. Gricius' goal shattered the record for the fastest goal scored in the Crowchild Classic, breaking Matt Alfaro's goal 2:10 in the 'Dome back in 2018.

After netting the early goal, it was the Cougars trying to play catchup the rest of the opening period, unleashing wave after wave on the attack. But, Tetachuk wowed the Calgary faithful multiple times with several clutch and improbable saves, including an incredible no-look behind-the-back glove save that would you almost have to see to believe.

Thanks to Tetachuk's strong play, the Dinos carried the 1-0 lead into the second frame.

The Cougars successfully carried over the momentum into the second period of play, peppering a flurry of pucks on net. MRU finally cracked Tetachuk's armour midway through the period when the nation's leading point scorer Connor Bouchard showed off his playmaking skills making a slick behind-the-net pass to teammate Jaden Senkoe, who took advantage of a small window on the right side of the net and flipped home his eighth goal of the year.

Although it was the Cougar's who scored, the goal seemed to re-energize Calgary's offence which had laid dormant since the opening minute of the game. With 3:07 remaining in the second, the Cougars would take a tripping penalty that proved costly. Calgary's top line was able to find some space to operate and when a Noah King slapshot was turned away by Farkas, Colson Gengenbach – the hat trick-scoring hero of last year's Crowchild Classic – found the puck on his stick in front of the net. Gengenbach patiently waited for an opportunity to lift the puck past the Cougars goalie, giving the Dinos the 2-1 lead.

In a back-and-forth third period, the Dinos nearly had the game closed out, but a strong push by Mount Royal saw Blake Stevenson just dribble one past the pads of Tetachuk to tie things up with just over seven minutes remaining.

The remaining few minutes of regulation and the five minutes of overtime were filled with countless thrilling goal-scoring chances that were met with an equal amount of saves by both goalkeepers – who both were the stars of the game.

With the game going to a shootout for the first time in the men's installation of the Classic, Bouchard and Blake both went to the backhand to find the back of the net, while Farkas was able to stonewall both of Calgary's first two skaters to bring the MRU bench rushing the NHL ice in celebration.

Both teams will return to action Friday night for a rematch at Father David Bauer Arena. Tune into Canada West TV for the 7 p.m puck drop.

-UC-