Photo credit: Derek Harback/MacEwan Griffins

By Ryan Flaherty

back-to-back shutouts

Huskies enter break on a roll after sweeping Griffins

Nov 30, 2024 | 10:38 PM

The Huskies women’s hockey team is heading into the new year on a high after closing out the first semester with a second straight shutout victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Saturday night in Edmonton.

Special teams carried the day as the Dogs got power play goals from Brooklyn Stevely and Paris Oleksyn and a shorthanded marker from Jayde Cadieux, while Colby Wilson made 23 saves for her second clean sheet in as many nights as Saskatchewan dominated at both ends of the rink in a 3-0 win.

“You’ve just gotta play the right way. We’re not by any means there yet but we just focused on making sure we did the simple things and not starting to think that we’re Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makars out there,” head coach Steve Kook said.

After prevailing 1-0 in overtime for their first win of the season on Friday, the Huskies hit the ice for the rematch with a renewed confidence that was evident right from the jump. The Dogs carried play throughout the first period, outshooting MacEwan 13-5 in the frame and opening the scoring in the final minute as Stevely’s point shot found its way through a screen for her first goal of the season.

“That first win was really good for us and tonight as well. I almost wish we were playing again next weekend, seems like we finally got rolling a little bit. We just talked about making some plays this weekend. We needed some confidence and I think we got that,” Stevely said.

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The visitors picked up right where they left off in the second, dominating puck possession and drawing a second power play, on which Oleksyn crashed the net and put a rebound past Grifins netminder Brianna Sank to double the advantage.

“Our power play was super hot tonight. It was hot last weekend, too, so hopefully we can carry that into the new year,” Stevely said.

Less than five minutes later, the Huskies penalty kill took up the charge as the Griffins coughed up the puck behind their own net and Cadieux pounced, putting it into the open net for her second goal in as many nights.

From there, it was about protecting the lead against the lowest scoring team in the conference, and despite facing a few MacEwan chances in the third, the Huskies maintained full control right until the final buzzer.

Now the Dogs head into their holiday break with positive momentum and a weight off their shoulders, and while some may want to keep riding the wave, the time off will be beneficial.

“I know you want to keep playing when you’re playing well but this was a physical series. We’ve got some players that have some bumps and bruises. They need a mental break here and feeling good going into the break, I think what it will do is we’ll be able to come back from the break, feel good about our game, having some confidence and get back at it again,” Kook said.

The Huskies enter the break with a record of 2-10-4, nine points behind the third-place Manitoba Bisons and ten back of the Regina Cougars in the East Divison standings. Those two teams will face each other twice next weekend to wrap up their 2024 schedules. The Dogs still have four more games against the Bisons and two more against Regina. That home-and-home series with their provincial rivals will be their first of the new year.

It’s still a long road to make the playoffs, but with renewed confidence and a win streak to close out the calendar year, there is still time to write a different story this season.

“We’ve just been living on every period, every game for the last four, five, six games. It’ll be the same in the second half. We’re still a young crew, they don’t know any better, so we’re just gonna keep going,” Kook said.

The Huskies return to action on January 10 at home against Regina before kicking off a stretch of five straight road games the following night in the Queen City. Both games can be heard on HuskieFAN.

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