CALGARY – Two third-period goals ended the Dinos men's hockey team's hopes of a comeback in a 4-1 loss to Mount Royal Friday night from the Flames Community Arenas.

Third-ranked Mount Royal moves to 5-0 on the year, while the shorthanded, ninth-ranked Dinos drop to 2-2-1.

With under five minutes to go in the opening frame, the Cougars' powerplay went to work. Halfway through the advantage, Jayden Wiens found space with the puck low in the offensive zone, drawing all the attention of the Dinos' players. Wiens fed a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Kyle Walker who perfectly fired a hard one-time slapshot past the pad of Calgary netminder Carl Tetachuk.

Converting for the 12th time this year while on the powerplay, the Cougars took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Mount Royal carried the momentum in the second period and extended their lead just 73 seconds after hitting the ice. Clay Hanus attempted to feed a pass to Connor Bouchard, who was stationed on the opposite side of the ice. However, Wiens cut off Hanus with his foot and shot a laser past Tetachuk.

The Dinos broke through just past the midway point of the period. Veteran forward Colson Gengenbach displayed an impressive individual effort, deking his way through the Cougars line before sliding the puck to his backhand and swiftly sliding it under MRU goalie Shane Farkas.

After 40 minutes of tight and intense hockey, just one goal separated the two teams.

In the final period, the Cougars regained their two-goal lead. Defenceman Michael Ladyman took an aggressive hit from Dinos forward Logan Hauer, but still got the pass off to Remy Aqulion, who put it deep behind the net. Zafir Rawji snatched up the puck and eventually found Tristan Zandee in the slot. Zandee, a second-year centre, one-timed Rawji's pass, beating Carl Tetachuk and finding twine.

Fifty nine seconds after Zandee's second tally of the year, Mount Royal stumbled their way into a fourth goal. While falling to the ice, Robbie Fromm-Delorme relinquished control of the puck leaving Justin Lies to shoot it. Lies also found his legs being taken out but still managed to beat Tetachuk for his team-high fourth of the season.

Shane Farkas was stellar between the pipes in his second start of the season for MRU and carried the Cougars to the win.

The two Cowtown squads will face off again less than 24 hours from the conclusion of this year, as the Dinos get set to host the Cougars at Father David Bauer Arena for the rematch Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be streamed live on Canada West TV.

-UC-