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| Logan McVeigh fires home an equalizing goal for the Huskies. |
When Jerome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff played for the
Flames, the joke was Iginla would pot a couple of goals and Kiprusoff would
make like 47 save to lead the Flames to a 2-1 victory, which was often the
story when those two played together in Calgary.
On Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink, Huskies
faced their toughest foe of the season in the two-time defending Canadian
Interuniversity Sport champion University of Alberta Golden Bears.
Huskies netminder Jordon Cooke played the role of Kiprusoff
making 44 saves, Logan McVeigh took on the part of Iginla scoring a couple of
goals, and those performances equaled a 3-2 comeback victory for the Dogs.
The 477th all-time meeting between the two
historic rivals definitely had drama. Just 58 seconds into the contest, the
Huskies scored on their first shot of the game, when rookie forward Andrew
Johnson slipped home an on-ice shot past Golden Bears goalie Luke Siemens to
give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The defending national champs responded by throwing
everything including what seemed like the kitchen sink at Cooke. Even an
extended rust break couldn’t halt the Golden Bears onslaught of shots. The
lengthy break was caused, when a puck went into the Ruthy’s roof causing one
steel beam to drop a straight line of rust across the ice, while two other
beams added sprinkles of rust.
With 58 seconds to go in the first, the Golden Bears were
able to even things up at 1-1, when star forward Jordan Hickmott deflected home
a point shot from defenceman Jordan Rowley.
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| Jordon Cooke made 44 saves to backstop the Huskies to victory. |
The Golden Bears went ahead 2-1 at the 5:25 mark of the
second, when rearguard Dylan Bredo found the back of the net for his first of
the season. U of A kept coming at Cooke in waves, but the sophomore netminder
slammed the door for the rest of the contest.
As the second came to a close, the Huskies started to string
a series of good shifts together, which started to turn the tide of the
contest. The hosts played their best structural frame in the third, which cued
the comeback.
Just past the midway point of the third, John Lawrence and
Jesse Ross combined to set up McVeigh with a scoring chance in front of the
Golden Bears net. McVeigh made no mistake wiring home a shot to the top corner
of the U of A goal to tie things up at 2-2.
A little over three minutes later McVeigh tucked home the
rebound from a point shot coming off the stick of Huskies captain Kendall
McFaull to put the hosts up by the eventual final of 3-2.
Down the stretch Cooke made a couple of nice glove saves to
preserve the victory, which allowed the Huskies to remain undefeated at 7-0. Siemens made 22 stops as the Golden Bears dropped to 4-2-1.
The two teams go at it again on Halloween night Saturday at
7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.
Hendricks robs Pandas
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| Huskies goalie Cassidy Hendricks frustrated the Pandas. |
Hendricks turned away 28 shots through regulation and overtime,
which included making seven saves in a scoreless three-on-three five minute
overtime period. The Vancouver product proceeded to stop all three shooters she
faced in a tiebreaking shootout to lift Huskies to a 3-2 victory.
In contrast, Pandas goalie Lindsey Post only face 10 shots
through regulation and overtime and made eight saves over that stretch. Post
stopped only one of two shooters in the tiebreaking shootout in her side’s
setback.
Despite the lopsided edge the Pandas had in the shots
department, the Huskies held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in regulation thanks to goals
by star defender Julia Flinton and standout forward Kaitlin Willoughby, who
returned after missing two games due to injury. Flinton netted the lone goal in
the shootout.
Cayle Dillon and Ashley Morin had the regulation replies for
the Pandas.
The win was the fourth in a row for the Huskies, and it
moved them into first place in the Canada West standings with a 7-1-1 mark.
They sit a point up on the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns. The Pandas fell
to 4-4-1.
These two clubs go at it again on Halloween Saturday in
Edmonton.
If you have any
comments to make about this blog post, feel free to email them to
stankssports@gmail.com.
