Vince Loschiavo had a goal in regulation and scored the shootout winner as the Huskies downed the Manitoba Bisons 4-3 in Winnipeg. Photo courtesy Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards

By Ryan Flaherty

women lose in ot

Huskies men survive late scare to claim shootout win

Nov 1, 2024 | 11:34 PM

Giving up a late equalizer can be hard to overcome but the Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team did just that on Friday night in Winnipeg with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Manitoba Bisons.

The Huskies were in line for a regulation win but a goal by Bisons rookie Skyler Bruce with just 2.1 seconds left extended the game, and after a fairly quiet overtime period, Winnipeg product Vince Loschiavo scored the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout.

“The resiliency is great. We just can’t let our foot off the gas ever, that’s a good lesson for us to learn. But overall, we found a way to get it done,” head coach Brandin Cote said.

Saskatchewan came out flying in the first period, swarming the offensive zone and peppering Braden Holt with nine shots in the opening five minutes. But the Bisons goaltender held firm and gave his team a chance to get into the flow of the action, and Manitoba would finish a scoreless period with a 12-11 edge in the shot department.

The Bisons broke the ice 6:04 into the second when Riley Stotts wristed a shot past Roddy Ross. However, the Dogs had an answer less than two minutes later after the Bisons coughed up the puck in their own zone and Trevor Wong found a wide open Loschiavo, who had all day to deke Holt out of his skates and slide the puck home for his second goal of the season.

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Manitoba would retake the lead a few minutes later on a goal by Jonny Hooker, but before the period was out, the Huskies leveled the score again. After a faceoff win in the Bisons zone, Landon Kosior rimmed the puck around the boards behind the net to Wong, who quickly fed Carter Stebbings in front for his second of the year.

“I just think we’re a confident group and we can come back from anything. A goal or two doesn’t really phase us. We just forget about it and think about the next shift,” Loschiavo said.

Saskatchewan pushed in front for the first time with under seven minutes to play in the third, snapping an 0/12 power play drought as both Stebbings and Ben Tkachuk got their sticks on a Rhett Rhinehart wrister. Tkachuk was credited with his third goal of the season and as time wound down it appeared that would be the difference but then came the late drama. With the Bisons net empty, Parker Malchuk threw a prayer towards the Huskies goal from the side boards and Bruce was at the edge of the crease to tip it past Ross for the tying tally.

With nothing solved in overtime, the Huskies headed to their second shootout of the season. After Ross denied Stotts to start it off, Dawson Holt calmly put the Huskies in front with a laser to the top corner of the net. Neither team scored in round two, then Hooker kept the Bisons alive by beating Ross to the blocker side. That set the stage for Loschiavo, and the fifth-year forward capped his homecoming with a lovely finish, cutting from right to left across the goal before deftly flipping the puck over Holt’s shoulder and into the net.

“It’s always nice to play at home in front of family and friends. I didn’t get the opportunity to do that for a long time in junior so it’s always nice to come home and I just want to contribute any way I can,” Loschiavo said.

The Huskies are now 6-3 on the season and 2-0 in shootouts, with Ross stopping 10 of 11 shooters in total. The fourth-year goaltender made 26 saves through regulation and overtime to earn his third win of the year. Holt stopped 38 shots in defeat as the Bisons fell to 2-3-2.

The teams will meet again on Saturday at 1 p.m. (12 p.m. Sask time) as the Huskies go for the weekend sweep.

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In Saskatoon, the first win of the season slipped through the grasp of the Huskies women’s team once again as they fell to 0-5-4 with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Bisons.

After falling behind 1-0 after one period, the Dogs grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second with a pair of power play goals less than two minutes apart by Kendra Zuchotzki and Sara Kendall. But Hannah Bailey brought the Bisons back level with a goal midway through the third period and then Norah Collins came through in overtime, netting the winner with 1:50 to play.

The Huskies’ power play scored twice on five opportunities while the Bisons converted one of three power play chances. Manitoba outshot Saskatchewan 37-24 on the night as Emily Shippam earned the victory with a 22-save effort. Emma Backman stopped 34 shots in the loss.

The teams will be back at it on Saturday with the rematch scheduled for 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. Both Huskies hockey games can be heard on the free HuskieFAN app.

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