CALGARY – A shot-heavy game favouring the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team was not enough to overcome the MacEwan University Griffins Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.

The Dinos had 37 shots on goal, with the lone goal coming from forward Jadon Joseph in a 3-1 setback.

"We had a lot of shots, but not enough guys in the middle looking for secondary pucks," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell. "They blocked a lot of pucks and won a lot of the secondary pucks."

The win was the first for MacEwan against Calgary in 12 regular season meetings since joining Canada West men's hockey in 2021. 

"Against a team like that, that's going to clog up the middle and you've got to win those secondary pucks in the middle, and we didn't do that," added Howell.

Just 52 seconds into the first frame, the Griffins made their mark. A blue line shot by Kadyn Chabot led to a redirection from Sam Simard, which made its way above Carl Tetachuk's pad and lit the lamp. Although the Dinos had several good chances and scrambles in front of MacEwan's net, luck was not on their side as the Griffins held the 1-0 lead through the remaining 19 minutes.

It wasn't until eight minutes into the second period when the Dinos struck on the power play. An attempted net front pass from Joseph to Brendan Lee found the puck returning to Joseph's stick. The sharp angle shot notched the single goal on the Dinos' scoresheet as it went through the otherwise impenetrable Griffins goaltender Brett Epp, who turned away 36 of 37 shots on goal. 

The tie game only lasted five minutes before the Griffins restored their lead at the 13:36 mark. Quick off a faceoff on Tetachuk's left, Liam Ryan had no problems snapping back the puck and dishing it to Chabot, who earned his second point of the game with a snipe to the back of the Dinos net, allowing MacEwan to regain their one-goal lead.

A Calgary penalty would put the nail in the coffin in the third period. Six minutes into the final frame, Hunter Donohoe fired from the point, finding a seam through the Dinos netminder, notching his first of the season and solidifying a 3-1 win for the Griffins.

"We skated better and won some races tonight, compared to last Saturday, where we didn't," Howell expanded. "We've got to look at what they're doing; they clog up the middle really well, and we have to find a way to generate more offence."

The two teams will face off again on Saturday on MacEwan's home ice with a 5 p.m. puck drop.

-UC-