CALGARY – A first period goal-heavy repeat of Friday night had the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team place 13 different players on the score sheet in their 9-2 win over the Regina Cougars Satruday night from Father David Bauer Arena.

The victory also had Dinos' rookie Hayden Pakkala scoring two goals in the evening match, the first two of his U SPORTS career.

"It's pretty exciting," Pakkala said. "I hit the post on my shift before, so it's nice to get one in there after that. I like to play pretty dirty right in the crease, so it's definitely my type of goal."

Sensing déjà vu from Friday, it didn't take long for the home team to strike. In the fourth minute of play, Dinos captain Adam Kydd benefited from a power play net-front scramble where the puck squirted loose, tucking it behind Cougars' goaltender Damon Cunningham. Just over two minutes later, Logen Hammett drove through the visiting defence and took a sharp angle shot from the goal line, quickly putting the Dinos up 2-0. 

It wasn't until the 13:28 mark when Pakkala took charge. A blocked shot saw the puck back on his stick in a crowded crease, but he had no trouble sending it behind the goal line the second time around for his first U SPORTS goal. It was quickly succeeded by the rookie's second goal of the night off a backdoor feed from Logan Hauer on the man advantage to lift the Dinos up 4-0. The strong period for the home team was closed out with a goal from Mack Stewart, but hope was not lost for the Cougars as Carson Whyte scored with 20.7 seconds left to hold the Dinos at a 5-1 lead after 20.

The second period was strong for the Cougars defensively, with them using a goaltender swap to put Justen Maric in net. The period itself only had two collective goals throughout the frame. The Cougars capitalized on a power play, with Jaxon Steele taking a one-timer from the left circle to launch the puck past Carl Tetachuk's blocker pad, shrinking their deficit down to 5-2 and bringing life into the Green & Gold. However, a final buzzer beater with 0.9 seconds left from the Dinos' rookie Stephen Kirkpatrick had the home team rolling into the third period with momentum.

"I thought Regina had a bigger push. We scored for sure, but I thought we were a bit sloppy at times, maybe cheating for offence once in a while," said Dinos bench boss Mark Howell. "Mistakes late in the first for a goal against, the second we were not good at all. We just got cute, too much one-on-one, kind of went back to what we were doing in the preseason. Trying to beat guys one-on-one, one-on-two, lots of turnovers, careless with the puck. In the third I thought we dialed in again and played a lot smarter and simpler."

Halfway through the final frame, the Scarlet & Gold kept the goal light hot, starting with Stewart using a nice backhand tuck off a rebound for his second of the night. The match was closed out with two quick goals in the final few minutes, one from Sean Strange net-front and one from Hauer, who tucked it over the left pad of Maric in the final seconds to close a 9-2 win.

With the Dinos returning to Father David Bauer Arena to face off against the Mount Royal Cougars on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., Pakkala talked about the known rivalry,

"A big rivalry always gets a little physical. Some words will be said out there and it's just the best games when it's like that."

"When we stay connected and we're close together and we work together, we're better," said Howell, looking forward. "I thought a lot of this game we got disconnected, we were too far away from each other. When you're playing Mount Royal coming up...they're quick, they're fast, they're skilled. We have to play really quick, we have to be together and just play a smarter game."

The Regina Cougars will return home for Oct. 10 to play against the Manitoba Bison with a 7 p.m. puck drop.

-UC-