Kendra Zuchotzki's second-period tally was the difference in the Huskies 2-1 win over Calgary in Game 1 of their conference quarterfinal. Photo credit: Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards/Huskie Athletics

By Ryan Flaherty

Holding the fort

Huskies edge Dinos 2-1 in playoff opener

Feb 16, 2024 | 6:55 PM

The Huskies women’s hockey team got just enough offence and Camryn Drever did the rest as the Dogs held off a late comeback effort to defeat the Calgary Dinos 2-1 in Game 1 of their best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Dogs admitted afterwards that there were plenty of nerves as they took the ice for their first home playoff game since 2020 but Mallory Dyer helped calm things down by scoring her first career U SPORTS playoff goal at 3:12 of the first period.

“As soon as we got that first goal you could just feel it. Everyone just kind of settled down. First couple shifts you could tell everyone was clenching their stick too much,” third-year defender Kendra Zuchotzki said.

Despite giving up the early goal, the Dinos carried a healthy amount of the play in the opening frame, spending lots of time in the Huskies zone, but Drever held firm, preserving the 1-0 lead after twenty minutes. Calgary outshot Saskatchewan 14-11 in the period.

The Huskies doubled their lead in the second after some good work of their own in the offensive zone. Sophie Lalor corraled a pass along the wall before spinning and finding a wide open Zuchotzki, who had plenty of time to pick her spot and zip a shot top corner past Dinos netminder Gabby Durante.

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“When I came to the bench after my goal everyone was telling me that they were yelling at me because there was a Calgary girl going behind me (for a stretch pass) but I had no clue because I was so focused on Sophie,” Zuchotzki said. “I was like, ‘why am I so open right now,’ but that’s probably why. Unbelievable pass by Sophie. Good for her to pick her head up and hear me yell for it.”

Discpline turned out to be a key theme in the series opener. The Dinos earned a pair of power plays as the second period progressed but on both occasions were then whistled for infractions of their own just seconds into those 5-on-4 advantages. Those would turn out to be their only two power plays of the game, while the Huskies finished the night 0-for-6 in that department.

Down by two heading into the third, the Dinos continued to press and finally broke through at the 9:21 mark as a point shot by Kate Wagner found its way past a screened Drever. It was the first career U SPORTS goal for the second-year defender from Saskatoon.

Wagner’s goal tightened things up but the Huskies buckled down defensively and with a few more timely stops by Drever, they steered the game to the finish line. The fifth-year netminder finished with 30 saves to earn her eighth career playoff victory as the Dinos outshot the Dogs 31-24 overall.

“It wouldn’t be like us if we didn’t have a one-goal game, in playoffs especially,” head coach Steve Kook joked. “I thought all around, we played a good game.”

The Huskies are happy to have the upper hand in the series but they want to spend less time in their own zone in Game 2.

“(Calgary) moves the puck well, they go low-high, they move side to side, they’ve got people coming out of the far corner,” Kook said. “They had some zone time but I thought we did a good job of finding bodies so that they didn’t have free people with free sticks at the net.”

The Huskies will now look to complete the sweep and book their ticket to the conference semifinals with another win on Saturday. Game 2 is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place, and can be heard live on huskiefan.ca and the free HuskieFAN app.

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