CALGARY – Hayden Pakkala broke a tie early in the third period and the University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team held on for a 3-2 win over the University of Regina Cougars on Saturday, earning their first victory of the season at Father David Bauer Arena.
"We got off to a slow start in Saskatoon last weekend and then just kind of found it this weekend," said Pakkala, who scored three goals in two games.
"It's just huge to get the first one out of the way. We were kind of down in the dumps a little bit yesterday after that game, and it's just good to get this one. Hopefully we've got some positive energy going into next weekend."
The final score from Father David Bauer Arena also gave Dinos rookie netminder
Kelton Pyne his first win in his first start, helping improve Calgary to 1-3 on the season. The Cougars are now 3-1.
Regina got behind the Dinos defence right off the opening faceoff, forcing Pyne into a save immediately to keep it 0-0. Each team created a couple of solid chances over the rest of the first period, but neither could cash in.
The Cougars broke the deadlock at the seven-minute mark in the second period. Kade Runke took a cross-crease pass from Carson Whyte and got the puck through a reaching Pyne to make it 1-0. The Dinos answered less than three minutes later when
Logan Hauer unleashed a rocket from the high slot that popped the water bottle on its way to the top shelf past Regina goaltender Ross Hawryluk, tying the game 1-1.
Pakkala's goal came with less than 14 minutes left in regulation, a blue-line shot that snuck past Hawryluk.
Jake Poole doubled the lead with less than seven minutes to play in the third period, redirecting a puck from rookie
Sam Oremba on the power play to make it 3-1.
Regina pulled within one on the power play with less than three minutes left in regulation, when Boston Harkness scored to make it 3-2, but the Dinos protected the lead the rest of the way to hold on to their first win of the season.
Calgary outshot Regina 34-14, and Pyne finished with 12 saves.
"It was really important to get a win," said Dinos head coach
Mark Howell. "We were 0-3 and I think our confidence was a little bit fragile.
"We got the win, did enough good things and I told the guys it's hard to win in this league. It doesn't matter who you play, it's not a tap-in, and you have to do a lot of things right."
The Dinos will return to action Friday, Oct. 23, when they travel down the road to face the Mount Royal Cougars with puck drop at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.
The Regina Cougars will return home that same weekend to host the Saskatchewan Huskies at 7 p.m.
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