Bertholet plays hero as Huskies sweep Griffins

A seesaw battle saw the Griffins open the scoring less than seven minutes into the contest on a goal by Liam Hughes, who sat out the previous night’s game. Gunner Kinniburgh replied for the Huskies at the 14:20 mark with his first goal since November 3, 2023, beating MacEwan netminder Carson Ironside from the left wing boards. The fourth-year defenceman also had an assist on Saturday to give him a U SPORTS career high 13 points on the year.

However, before the period was out MacEwan jumped back in front as Sean Comrie fired a seeing-eye shot past Jordan Kooy with just over a minute to play, and the Griffins took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The back-and-forth continued in the second as Keaton Sorensen, who was scratched from the lineup on Friday, potted a rebound for his fourth goal of the season. The Huskies then grabbed their first lead of the game on a power play at 13:46 with Dawson Holt converting a backdoor feed from Landon Kosior. The advantage was short-lived though as Griffins rookie Ethan Sundar knotted the score at three just 93 seconds later.

MacEwan regained the lead on the opening shift of the third period thanks to a slot deflection by leading scorer Marc Pasemko. Facing the prospect of a costly defeat, the Huskies redoubled their efforts and once again their top-ranked power play delivered as Raphael Pelletier finished off a textbook passing play with a quick release from the slot to level the score at four. Saskatchewan finished the night going two for three with the man advantage while the Griffins failed to convert their only power play of the game.

Each team took turns pressing the issue over the final ten minutes of regulation, but both goaltenders held firm to send the game to overtime, setting the stage for Bertholet’s heroics.

With just over a minute remaining in the three-on-three session, the Huskies rookie picked up a loose puck at his own blueline and sped down the right wing, beating a defender and cutting on goal. His initial shot was stopped by Ironside but the rebound fell to Bertholet and he slipped it past the goaltender to deliver a critical second point for the Huskies.

“We turned it over at the blue line there and I just heard from the bench, ‘Go, go!’, so I must have had a step on the guy and the goalie made a good save but the rebound came back out and I was fortunate to bury it.” Bertholet said. “Any way I can help our team win is a bonus here so I was very happy that Coter trusted me in overtime.”

Saskatchewan’s 11-game win streak is the longest since they won 11 straight to close out the 2019-20 season. More importantly, the team’s record improves to 20-4 on the season. The Huskies’ 40 points match those of the Alberta Golden Bears, who defeated Trinity Western 5-2 on Saturday. However, Saskatchewan still holds two games in hand over their archrivals, who wrap up their regular season schedule next weekend against the Manitoba Bisons.

The Huskies, meanwhile, will travel to Vancouver for another critical road series against the UBC Thunderbirds before hosting Manitoba the following weekend to close out the campaign. Should the Bears win out, the Dogs will need to earn at least five points over their final four games to clinch top spot in the division.

“You never want to play with fire but the resiliency that comes with these games, there’s some lessons to be learned there for sure, and I think that’s going to bode well as we move forward,” Cote said.

by Ryan Flaherty

Bertholet plays hero as Huskies sweep Griffins

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