University of Saskatchewan Huskies forwards Carter Folk celebrates with his teammates Dawson Holt and Wyatt Johnson after a second-period goal on Saturday night. (Katie Brickman-Young/HuskieFAN)

By Katie Brickman-Young

Four goals in three minutes secure the victory

Huskies men’s hockey win a wild one

Dec 4, 2021 | 11:17 PM

Four unanswered goals in just over three minutes secured a wild come-from-behind victory for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

The Huskies looked down and out for majority of the game on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon, but a huge third period outburst that saw four different goal scorers in 3:03, earning the team a 7-4 win over the visiting Mount Royal University (MRU) Cougars.

“The start of the game shows that we weren’t prepared, and we didn’t work hard enough, and the other team competed harder than us,” said Mike Babcock, head coach of the Huskies. “We had significant injuries on the backend, but we stepped up and you have to give the guys a lot of credit that they were able to get it done.”

The Huskies were slow off the opening faceoff and MRU showed a lot more energy than Friday night. Robbie Holmes got the Cougars on the board just four minutes into the game when he picked up an errant pass in the defensive zone and rushed up the ice. Facing a two-on-one, Huskies’ goaltender Roddy Ross was stuck in position, when Holmes beat him glove side.

Wyatt Johnson got the equalizer midway through the first period on a hard shot in the slot just as a Cougar penalty expired to get the Huskies on the board. It was Johnson’s first goal since October 2019.

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He played the opening game of the season before missing a few due to injury.

“Anytime you are missing time, it is tough. You never want to be injured,” said Johnson on getting back into the lineup. “Watching is always brutal knowing that you can contribute something in some ways. I was fortunate to get back in there and help out in the past couple of games.”

Babcock was once again impressed by the line of Johnson, Carter Folk and Dawson Holt – who were tasked with competing head-to-head with the Cougars’ top line of Nolan Yaremko, Riley Sawchuk and Bradley Kennedy, who have been lighting the Canada West up this season.

“He is a talented player who plays hard and knows how to play offensively and defensively. He is an important guy for us. We need him to be a good player,” said Babcock. “Suddenly Folk and Holt are way better players because of Wyatt playing in the middle. We have a line that can play head-to-head against the best line in the league, and we win two games because they are doing that.”

That Folk-Johnson-Holt line finished with six points on the night, while they held the Cougars’ top line to just one point.

“They are two really good wingers and I enjoy playing with them every night,” said Johnson. “They are giving their all, hard on pucks and playing with speed. They make my job a lot easier. We have some really good chemistry and looking forward to continuing it.”

Ryley Lindgren added to the Cougars total just a minute and 40 seconds after Johnson’s marker to give them the lead after one period.

The Huskies continued to struggle in the second period, where they came out flat and gave up multiple chances.

Holmes got his second of the night just a 1:05 in the middle frame when the Cougars were able to pull Ross out of position in the crease. Kyle Walker would add to the lead when he beat Ross high glove side on the power play.

Dawson Holt got the Huskies within two goals midway through the frame, which seemed to have sparked the home team a little, as they played with more energy in the final half of the period. Jaxan Kaluski hit a crossbar late in the period as well.

To start the third, the Huskies didn’t appear to find their extra gear until Shane Collins saw a great pinch opportunity from the blueline and scored to bring them within one goal.

“He is an intelligent person, and his hockey sense is off the charts. It was a great play by him, and we needed it,” said Babcock.

Johnson scored the tying goal at 15:11 of the third period after a huge penalty kill by the Huskies. Zane Franklin was in the box for charging, got out and joined the team in the defensive zone. His teammates were exhausted, but a burst of energy from Franklin and a shot on net was followed by Johnson, who got the rebound and beat Cougars’ goaltender Riley Sims.

“We took some undisciplined penalties tonight,” said Babcock. “In the end, we found a way to win, but we have to find a way to be more disciplined.”

After the Johnson goal, the offensive floodgates opened for the Huskies. Just 27 seconds later, Jared Dmytriw scored the eventual game winner on a great play through the neutral zone to maintain possession of the puck and used a Cougar defender as a screen to beat Sims.

Justin Ball added an insurance marker with an incredible wrist shot near the face-off dots and then Carter Folk secured the Huskies’ ninth victory of the season with an empty net goal.

This was the final game on the schedule for the Huskies for the calendar year. They will now have 40 days off for the holiday break before they face-off against the University of Regina Cougars in a home-and-home on Jan. 14 and 15.

““It’s great for the guys. We have a ton of time off, but they earned it tonight. Things weren’t going their way, but they found a way to get it done,” said Babcock. “It’s good for the guys and all of us.”

Game Notes

The Huskies were without defencemen Evan Fiala and Connor Hobbs, both out with injuries. Babcock said the injuries aren’t significant and both will be back in the lineup in January.

With the victory, the Huskies maintain their third-place position in the Canada West standings, just three points behind the Alberta Golden Bears and UBC Thunderbirds.

The Huskies have five skaters in the top 20 statistic rankings in Canada West.