Resilient effort lifts Huskies to shootout win over UBC

After a disappointing 3-0 loss to UBC on Friday, the Huskies came out for the rematch looking a lot sharper but still had trouble solving Thunderbirds netminder Cole Schwebius in the early going. Petruic had the best opportunity in the dying seconds of the opening period, getting behind the defence for a point blank chance but Schwebius made a pad stop to keep the game scoreless.

Just as they did on Friday, the Thunderbirds broke the ice in the second as Chris Douglas capitalized on a turnover in the Huskies zone, slipping the puck past Jordan Kooy at the 9:57 mark. UBC then doubled its lead on a controversial play four and a half minutes later. Sam Huo trickled a shot on goal and Kooy appeared to have the puck covered but Josh Williams jammed at the goaltender’s pads until it slid over the line. Despite protests from the Huskies, the goal stood.

However, the Huskies did not waver, and they got an opportunity to get back in the game late in the period when T-birds defenceman Jonny Lambos, who had already been whistled for three minor penalties, was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging after hammering Parker Gavlas into the boards. The Huskies blueliner was briefly attended to by the trainer but stayed in the game.

On the ensuing power play, Petruic buried a rebound with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock, cutting the lead in half heading into the second intermission. The man advantage carried over into the third period and just before it expired, Petruic struck again, wristing a shot past Schwebius from the left faceoff dot. The fourth-year forward now has 18 goals on the season including 12 on the man advantage. Both totals rank second in the conference.

“I challenged our leadership group this morning just to lead the way and set the tone and I thought Chantz, not just counting the goals, he just played a really solid all-around game and that’s what we’re going to need from here on out,” Cote said.

The rest of the third period and overtime saw both teams tighten up their defensive play, with few shots reaching either net. UBC managed just 11 shots on goal after the first period, with Saskatchewan outshooting them 32-27 on the night. The Huskies power play finished the game two-for-four while the Thunderbirds failed to score on four opportunities.

Josh Williams and Chase Bertholet exchanged goals to open the shootout and neither team scored in round two. After Kooy denied UBC’s third shooter, Jake Lee, the stage was set for Loschiavo, who calmly beat Schwebius to lift the Huskies to victory.

The Huskies will now host Manitoba next weekend to close out the regular season. The Bisons were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday with their loss to Alberta. The Dogs have won all four head-to-head meetings this season.

“It would be really good to get it done at home in the first game and not have to worry about it but they gave Alberta a run (this weekend) and they’re a proud group. They’ve got a skilled team and it’s going to be sort of the same message,” Cote said. “You’ve got to be detailed, you’ve got to be on top of things and you can’t let anything slide.”

The weekend set opens on Friday at Merlis Belsher Place with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on HuskieFAN.

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by Ryan Flaherty

Resilient effort lifts Huskies to shootout win over UBC

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