Chant Petruic had two goals and an assist as the Huskies downed the Regina Cougars 6-3 on Jan. 10 in Regina. Photo: Rachel Albertson/Huskie Athletics

By Ryan Flaherty

happy new year

Huskies return to action with win over provincial rivals

Jan 11, 2025 | 3:12 AM

The Huskies men’s hockey team began 2025 the same way they finished 2024 — with a victory. In their first conference game since November 30 the Dogs downed the Regina Cougars 6-3 to extend their winning streak to four games.

Despite some signs of rust on both teams following the semester break, the Huskies continued their run of dominance against their provincial rivals. The Dogs have now won 12 straight games against the Cougars, and 26 of the last 27 meetings overall. Friday’s win was a testament to their depth and the strength of their power play, as 13 different players recorded at least one point and the Huskies scored three times with the man advantage.

Chantz Petruic tallied a pair of power play goals as part of a three-point night, while newcomer Chase Bertholet found the net in his Huskies debut.

“I’m excited to be here. I’ve heard lots of great things about the guys and the team. Obviously if you look at the stats and the standings it’s a great place to come,” Bertholet said.

The Cougars opened the scoring less than four minutes in as Eric Pearce beat Jordan Kooy on a Regina power play but that lead lasted just over two minutes as the Dogs replied on their first man advantage with Petruic tapping home a backdoor feed from Dawson Holt. Regina would retake the lead not long after on a goal by Steven Kesslering but once again the Huskies had a quick reply with Ty Prefontaine beating a screened Adam Evanoff from the point for his third goal of the season.

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Saskatchewan jumped out front for good on another man advantage late in the first period. Despite failing to capitalize on a lengthy five-on-three, the Dogs made sure the opportunity wasn’t completely wasted as Petruic scored his second goal of the period and team-leading ninth of the season in the waning moments of the remaining five-on-four time.

After an eventful first period the scoring slowed down significantly in the second, with Parker Gavlas scoring the only goal of the frame — his first of the year — to extend the Huskies’ lead to 4-2.

Eric Houk brought the Cougars back within a goal just over a minute into the third, streaking in on a breakaway and putting a backhander past Kooy, but the rest of the game belonged to the visitors. Just a few minutes later on a two-on-one rush, Raphael Pelletier fed Bertholet and the newest Huskie had all day to pick his spot and wrist a shot past Evanoff on the glove side. The product of The Pas, Man., who averaged more than a point a game in his final two seasons of junior hockey with the Spokane Chiefs, was happy to get on the scoresheet in his first U SPORTS game.

“It was definitely a sigh of relief…I have family here in Regina, so it was really special getting that first one in front of them and just contributing to help my team win,” Bertholet said.

Vince Loschiavo completed the scoring with a signature one-timer from the left faceoff dot for the Huskies third power-play goal of the night. The Dogs man advantage, which entered the game leading the Canada West at a 32.3 per cent clip, wound up going three-for-six, while the Cougars scored once on five power play chances. Saskatchewan outshot Regina 39-22 with Kooy making 19 saves to pick up his seventh win of the season between the pipes.

The victory pushes the Huskies record to 13-4 while the Cougars fall to 3-14. The rivals will wrap up the home-and-home set and their season series on Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can also be heard on the free HuskieFAN app.