Chantz Petruic had a goal and three assists in the Huskies' 6-1 win over Trinity Western on Nov. 8. Photo courtesy Matt Smith/Electric Umbrella/Huskie Athletics

By Ryan Flaherty

defencemen do damage

Spartans no match for Huskies in weekend series opener

Nov 8, 2024 | 10:27 PM

Six different players found the net as the Huskies men’s hockey team put forth a second straight show of dominance in beating the Trinity Western Spartans 6-1 at Merlis Belsher Place on Friday.

Coming off a 5-0 win over Manitoba in their previous outing, the Dogs once again took advantage of a weaker opponent, scoring twice in each period en route to their fourth consecutive win. Four defencemen were among the goal scorers in a comprehensive performance.

“I thought we managed the game well and did a good job of sticking up for each other when we needed to, to mitigate any sort of shenanigans on their side, but overall I was happy with the effort,” head coach Brandin Cote said.

After a back-and-forth first few minutes, the Huskies took over. Cole Jordan opened the scoring at 9:10 with his second goal in as many games. A few minutes later, another blueliner chimed in as Landon Kosior wristed a shot through traffic for his second of the season.

After a penalty-free first period, the Spartans were the first to run afoul of the law in the second when goaltender Leon Sommer fired the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing power play, Raphael Pelletier beat Sommer with a wicked wrister to the glove side.

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Tempers flared midway through the frame when Matteo Lamoureux delivered a cross-check to the back of Josh Pillar along the boards. The Huskies forward stayed down briefly but did stay in the game, while Lamoureux was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Saskatchewan forward Chantz Petruic drew a roughing call for his response to the Lamoureux hit, but after his penalty expired and with the Huskies still on the power play, Petruic would make the Spartans pay on the scoreboard, finishing off a nifty feed from Ethan Regnier for his fifth goal of the year.

“The guys rely on me to produce. We had a couple of tough matchups, you know Calgary and MRU and Alberta, so it’s tough and sometimes the bounces aren’t coming but it felt good tonight to get a couple (points) and it’s something to build off of,” Petruic said.

The Huskies continued to roll in the third as Mac Gross netted his first career U SPORTS goal, beating a screened Sommer with a shot from the point. The second-year defenceman has been in and out of the lineup throughout his time with the program and his teammates were happy to see him score.

“He’s such a skilled guy, he’s got a great shot. All our d-men have so much capability to put the puck in the net and to be honest with you, I didn’t even realize it was his first goal. It’s awesome for him,” Petruic said.

After Sammy May broke up Jordan Kooy’s shutout bid on a Spartans power play, the Dogs added one more goal as Ty Prefontaine became the fourth different d-man to score, potting his first of the season.

“We haven’t been getting very much early on from the D, so that was good to get them going there. Obviously we don’t always count on them to score but it’s good to have them contribute,” Cote said.

While Kooy was denied a second straight shutout, he still looked sharp making 20 saves for his fifth win of the season. Sommer stopped 40 shots in the loss. The Huskies power play scored twice on four chances while the Spartans went 1-for-2. Petruic ended the game with a goal and three assists and Dawson Holt added three helpers. Jordan, Kosior, Pelletier and Regnier recorded two points apiece.

The teams will wrap up their season series on Saturday before the Huskies head into their first bye week of the season.

“We need to get as many points as we can and just having confidence going in on a bit of a streak here, I think is going to be really important,” Cote said.

Saturday’s game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place. You can listen to all the action on HuskieFAN.

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