CALGARY – Dallon Melin netted a hat trick to lead the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team to a dominant 7-1 win over the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night at Father David Bauer Arena.

The win secured a weekend sweep for the Dinos. A second-year forward, Melin was a key contributor in both games, finishing with four goals.

"It feels good to get rewarded, I feel like I've been around it for the last few weeks," commented Melin. "There's obviously some luck involved, but my teammates made good plays to me, and it was good to put the puck in the back of the net."

Calgary moves into a tie for second place in the West Division in Canada West with a 8-5-0-1 record, while Manitoba drops to 2-8-1-1 and are fourth in the East Division.

Like they had a night ago, the Bisons opened the scoring on Saturday. Parked at the side of the goal, Caden Zaplitny found the tape of Eric Alarie in front of the crease where he tucked a shot behind Dinos goaltender Carl Tetachuk. 

The lead was shortlived through as Calgary responded just over a minute later with Melin completing a two-on-on rush with Jadon Joseph.

It was the start of seven unanswered goals by the Dinos. Max Patterson got the next one, the eventual game-winning goal, as a cross ice feed from Mack Stewart allowed for a quick tap in that sneaked past Manitoba's Braden Holt.

The Dinos doubled their lead with a power play goal at the 8:05 mark of the second period by Jake Gricius. 

Defencemen Tyson Galloway and Noah King scored less than a minute apart at the 13:05 and 13:58 marks of the middle frame to establish a 5-1 lead for Calgary.

"We lost our identity with the amount of injuries we had in October. I think overall, the entire game we were better," stated Dinos head coach Mark Howell. "Our game is built on pace and intensity and physicality, and I thought pretty much the entire game we stayed with our identity and played hard."

The Dinos outshot the Bisons 11-3 in the third period. Melin completed his three-goal outing by being well positioned in front of the net where he lit the lamp twice in the third to round out the scoring.

"It feels good for the team. We've been working on burying the puck a lot at practice because we've been struggling with it the last few weeks, so just bearing down on that," Melin said. "The few extra goals at the end were good for everyone's confidence, but I think it's long overdue. We work hard and we deserve to get those."

The Dinos continue their home stand with games against the Trinity Western Spartans next weekend to conclude the first half of the season. The two-game set begins on Friday, Nov. 29.

The Bisons travel to Vancouver next weekend for a matchup with the UBC Thunderbirds.

-UC-