Dawson Holt's shorthanded goal proved to be the difference as the Huskies beat the Calgary Dinos 4-1. Photo: Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards

By Ryan Flaherty

season series sweep

Special teams deliver as Huskies win fourth straight

Oct 12, 2024 | 10:50 PM

For the first time in nearly five years, the Huskies men’s hockey team is bringing four points home from Father David Bauer Arena, after defeating the Calgary Dinos 4-1 on Saturday night.

The Dogs’ special teams were the deciding factor in their first road sweep of Calgary since January 2020, with Dawson Holt scoring a shorthanded goal to break a 1-1 deadlock in the third and Josh Pillar adding a power play marker a few minutes later for some insurance. Ben Tkachuk and Chantz Petruic also found the net as the Huskies extended their season-opening win streak to four games.

“We talked in the second intermission that the game was there for the taking for whichever team wants to take it and I just thought we stepped up. Both games, we stepped up in the right moment,” head coach Brandin Cote said. “Overall it was a really solid team effort and I really liked the way we just stuck with the plan and found a way to get both games done.”

In a game with significantly less excitement than Friday’s 3-2 shootout win, the Dogs grinded away against a Calgary squad playing with just 10 forwards due to a raft of injuries. And while the Dinos’ fatigue may have played a role in the outcome, Cote’s team still had to battle hard to earn the result.

“We probably wore them down a bit but they had some zone time as well. Again, I’ve said all through the preseason and into the first couple weekends that our depth is going to be our weapon this year and so far it’s proven that,” Cote said.

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Saskatchewan opened the scoring midway through the first when Cole Jordan fired a long bank pass from his own zone to a streaking Tkachuk, who got behind the Dinos defence and beat Carl Tetachuk for his second goal of the season. But just like a the previous night, the home team responded with Colson Gengenbach lifting a backhand shot over the shoulder of Dogs’ goaltender Jordan Kooy, who was making his second start of the season.

That was it for highlight material until the third period, with the teams combining for just 13 shots on goal in the middle frame. In the third, however, the action picked up again and just shy of the seven minute mark, while down a man, the Dogs broke out on the rush. Ty Prefontaine’s shot from the wing hit Tetachuk up high and Holt crashed down the slot to bury the rebound, putting the Huskies back in front.

The fourth-year forward from Saskatoon said he relishes his two-way role.

“I love it. Being able to shut down their team when they have an extra guy is a huge part of the game and when you’re fortunate enough to get the shorthanded goal it feels awesome and definitely provides a spark to the team, which is what I try to do every time we’re on the kill,” Holt said.

Just over two minutes later, with the Dogs now on a 5-on-3 power play, Pillar popped another one past the Dinos netminder from in tight for his first goal of the season. Finally at 15:10, Petruic extended his point streak to four games, finishing off a back-and-forth passing play with Vince Loschiavo for his third of the year.

Saskatchewan’s power play finished the night with a goal on six chances while Calgary failed to convert on four man advantages. The Dinos outshot the Huskies 25-21 but the Dogs had more quality attempts. Kooy earned his second win of the season with a 24-save performance while Tetachuk stopped 17 shots in a losing effort.

The win means the Huskies will head to Edmonton next weekend for an early first place showdown with the Alberta Golden Bears, who also improved to 4-0 on Saturday with a win over Manitoba.

“We obviously have a rivalry against them going back a long, long time so they’re always big games. Every game in this league is a big game but these ones you especially want to get up for, so we’re looking forward to next weekend,” Holt said.

Saskatchewan and Alberta face off in the first of six regular season meetings on October 18 at 7 pm. The game can be heard on huskiefan.ca and the free HuskieFAN app.

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