Huskies pull out dramatic opening night win

Consider it a character test. The Huskie men’s hockey team had to dig out from a 3-1 third period deficit to pull out a 4-3 win over the Calgary Dinos in the 2026-27 Canada West season opener for both teams on Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place. 

Moments after the 2025-26 Canada West banner championship was unveiled in the west end of the arena, veteran forward Raphael Pelletier scored to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Huskie coach Brandin Cote admitted that Calgary is a “hard team to play against”, and they proved it. The Dinos tied the game at the 5:26 mark when Jake Poole tipped in a Kurtis Smythe shot to make it 1-1. 

The Huskies suffered a setback at the 11:44 mark of the second period when 4th-year forward Ben Tkachuk suffered a knee injury and left the game. “He’s got to be assessed, but it doesn’t look good”, said head coach Brandin Cote.  Minutes later the Dinos took a 2-1 lead on a Logan Hauer break away. 

In the third period the teams exchanged goals with Dino forward Hayden Pakkala in the penalty box. Calgary’s Stephen Kirkpatrick scored, shorthanded at 10:11 to give the visitors a 3-1 lead. The Dogs were able to pull back to within one on a Keaton Sorenson marker at 11:20.