Hockey Dogs come out firing, hang on for win
Huskies 5, Pronghorns 2
A two-game losing skid, not to mention a 2-4 record, did not sit well with the University of Saskatchewan hockey Huskies.
The Dogs weren’t about to take the Lethbridge Pronghorns lightly Friday night.
As a result, the Horns — and their goalie, Damien Ketlo — were under siege through the first two periods.
Peppering 40 shots on net and many more that missed the mark, the Huskies hung on for a 5-2 victory at Rutherford Rink.
Derek Hulak led Saskatchewan with two goals and two assists. Charles Inglis, Brennan Bosch and Kenton Dulle also scored for the Dogs.
Although the Huskies got back on track, the win is not as satisfactory as it should be.
“We’ve got to take the positives out of this, but having a 4-0 lead not even halfway through the game and letting the foot off the gas pedal is not good,” said Hulak.
“It was a tale of two halves. The first half, we were dominant and the shots showed that. Having to scramble there at the end, killing off penalties up 4-2, we need to be better than that. We need to play a full 60.”
The rookie Inglis scored his first goal in Canada West play during a power play, a two-man advantage, at 5:07.
Later in the opening period, Hulak pounced on a rebound for his first goal. His second tally came while his team was short handed early in the second frame. A nifty poke-check just inside the blueline in Saskatchewan’s own zone resulted in a breakaway for Hulak, who made no mistake and buried it stick-side on Ketlo.
Bosch made it four-zip, converting on a 3-on-1 with a bar-down tally at 7:45.
Lethbridge made a game of it in the third with back-to-back goals from Cass Mappin and Daniel Iwanski. The Huskies found themselves in penalty trouble late in the game but Dulle iced the win with a short-handed empty-netter with 1:43 left.
“They’re a team that’s not going to give up and they showed it,” said Hulak. “No matter what their record is, they came at us hard.”
Saskatchewan, which led 2-0 and 4-0 by periods, was 1-for-5 on the power play. Lethbridge went 1-for6.
Ryan Holfeld stopped 24 shots. Ketlo finished the night with 34 saves.
The same two teams meet again Saturday, at 7 p.m., at Rutherford Rink.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
In Canada West women’s hockey, the Huskies dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the Horns (3-2-2) in Lethbridge.
Marley Ervine had the lone goal for Saskatchewan (4-2-1).
BASKETBALL
At the Graham Shootout, the host U of S Huskies defeated the Bishop’s University Gaiters 81-75. The Dogs trailed 37-33 at the half but took a 5448 lead after three periods.
In Friday’s early game, the Toronto Varsity Blues clipped the Calgary Dinos 86-77.