Carter Stebbings reached a new Huskies career high with his 13th goal of the season on Feb. 13. (Image Credit: Electric Umbrella Images Ltd./Huskie Athletics)

By Ryan Flaherty

Down to the Wire

Huskies first place plans postponed by late Cougars comeback

Feb 14, 2026 | 1:13 AM

The tussle for top spot in the East Division will come down to the final game of the regular season. The Mount Royal Cougars scored twice in the third period to defeat the Huskies men’s hockey team 3-2 on Friday night in Calgary, pulling even with the Dogs for top spot and setting up a Saturday showdown for the right to advance directly to the Canada West semifinals.

Conner Roulette and Carter Stebbings scored for the Huskies, who came within just a few minutes of sealing the deal despite playing most of the game with only four defencemen after losing Mac Gross and Rhett Rhinehart to injury in the opening minutes.

The big questions now are what will Saskatchewan’s lineup look like for Saturday’s rematch, and will there be any supplemental discipline coming for the hit that knocked Gross out of the game.

The Huskies came out hungry to lock up top spot in the series opener, with Roulette scoring his 15th goal of the season on a power play just two minutes into the contest, but the early excitement was muted on the very next shift when Josh Tarzwell delivered a high, hard hit from behind on Gross along the boards. The third-year blueliner stayed down on the ice for a few seconds before slowly skating to the bench and subsequently heading to the locker room.

Tarzwell was not penalized on the play but Ben Tkachuk received a two-minute roughing minor after coming to his teammate’s defence.

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The Huskies killed off the penalty but the Cougars took control of the play from there, knotting things up on a goal by Vaughn Watterodt in the back half of the period. MRU outshot USask 15-4 in the opening 20 minutes and only a strong effort by Huskies netminder Nolan Maier kept the score tied.

After an intermission reset, the Dogs returned with renewed energy for the second and Stebbings restored the lead just past the seven-minute mark, intercepting a bad pass deep in the offensive zone and quickly firing the puck upstairs past MRU goaltender Shane Farkas. The Huskies outshot the Cougars 9-4 in the period and carried their one-goal lead to the third.

However, as the final frame wore on, fatigue began to set in for the undermanned visitors. The Cougars kept pressing the issue and with 6:42 to play, Spencer Moe deflected a Clay Hanus point shot past Maier to level the score once again.

The Huskies got a great chance to nose back in front with about three minutes to go but could not convert on a three-on-one rush and a short time later, Justin Lies fired a shot from just inside the USask blueline that found just enough room along the ice to sneak past a screened Maier for what would prove to be the game-winner.

The final shot tally was 27-20 Mount Royal. The Cougars failed to score on three power plays while the Huskies converted one of five.

Both teams now have identical 19-6-2 records and whoever wins on Saturday will claim the East’s #1 seed and a first-round playoff bye. The season finale gets underway at 5 p.m. MST/6 p.m. CST and can be heard live on the free HuskieFAN app.

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