Photo courtesy Rachel Albertson/Huskie Athletics

By Ryan Flaherty

one-sided rivalry

Big third period spurs Huskies to win over Cougars

Dec 5, 2025 | 11:31 PM

The Huskies men’s hockey team needed less than three and a half minutes to turn a close game into a blowout, scoring three times in a span of 3:20 as part of a four-goal third period en route to a 6-1 win over the Regina Cougars at Co-Operators Arena on Friday.

Chantz Petruic added two goals to his Canada West-leading tally, Zack Somers scored his first U SPORTS goal and Carter Stebbings collected three assists as the Dogs extended their winning streak against the Cougars to 16 games. Saskatchewan has won 30 of the last 31 meetings with Regina overall.

The Cougars actually opened the scoring in Friday’s matchup, with Turner McMillen putting a rebound past Huskies goaltender Bryan Thomson exactly 11 minutes into the opening period for his third goal of the season.

The Huskies leveled the score in unusual fashion five minutes later. Ben Tkachuk fired a wrister off the rush that appeared to beat Cougars netminder Damon Cunningham just under the crossbar but the puck popped right back out and the referee closest to the play immediately waved off the would-be goal. However, at the next stoppage, the officiating crew huddled up and ultimately agreed that the puck had entered the net, belatedly giving Tkachuk his first goal of the season.

The Dogs grabbed the lead early in the second period after a Cougars turnover handed the puck right to Somers, whose initial shot from the slot went wide but bounced right back off the end boards for the rookie forward to tuck inside the post and record his first goal as a Huskie. That proved to be the only tally in a frame that saw just five shots on goal for each team.

Carabins win Vanier Cup

Huskies fall in championship game at Mosaic Stadium

Nov 22, 2025

Listen: Scott Flory-Coach's Show/Vanier Cup

A Vanier Cup Primer

Nov 21, 2025

Sponsored Content

Saskatoon Minor Football Player Profile - Carter Stadnyk

Nov 19, 2025

The third was a different story. Petruic opened the floodgates with back-to-back markers at 2:55 and 5:36, extending his conference leading total to 15 and his point streak to four games, during which he has produced six goals and four assists. The fifth-year forward has five multi-goal games in 13 played this season.

Thirty-nine seconds after Petruic’s second goal, Rhinehart buried a centering feed from Stebbings for his third of the year to make it 5-1. Raphael Pelletier completed the scoring four minutes later, netting his fourth of the season on the power play after a nifty spinning setup by Ashton Ferster.

The Huskies outshot the Cougars 29-25 as Thomson made 24 stops to earn his fourth win of the season while Cunningham made 23 saves in defeat. Saskatchewan’s power play scored once on four opportunities. Regina came up empty on five chances with the man advantage.

The provincial rivals will meet again on Saturday to close out their first semester schedules, this time in Saskatoon. Puck drop at Merlis Belsher Place is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can listen to the broadcast on the free HuskieFAN app.

—

X: @RFlahertypxp