Luck falls Huskies way

The Huskies celebrate an overtime winning goal.

    Lady Luck was on the side of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

    For a short time, it appeared the Huskies would fall victim to a comeback by the visiting University of Calgary Dinos on Friday night at the ancient Rutherford Rink. The Dogs led 3-1 after two periods of play only to see the Dinos rally back to force overtime after tying things up 3-3.

    After a scoreless five minute four-on-four overtime period, the Huskies received a huge break during the five-minute three-on-three session that followed. Sophomore Huskies forward Michael Sofillas fed the puck to linemate John Lawrence who proceeded to break towards the Dinos net for a scoring chance.

    Lawrence’s initial shot was stopped, but Dinos forward Elgin Pearce accidentally knocked the puck into his own goal while attempting to sweep it out of harm’s way.

    The Huskies themselves looked stunned for a moment before realizing they had pulled out a 4-3 victory at the 1:53 mark of the second overtime frame. The home side’s bench proceeded to empty out for a victory celebration in the offensive zone, while the crowd at Rutherford gave one of their loudest ovations of the season.

    For a while, it appeared the Huskies wouldn’t need any overtime goals to extend their current winning streak to four games. After playing through a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Huskies drew first blood, when sophomore forward Cameron Blair sniped a shot past Dinos goaltender Steven Stanford to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

John Lawrence picked up the Huskies OT winning goal.

    The Dinos tied things up at 1-1 just three minutes later, when Spencer Edwards potted a goal from in close off a scramble type situation.

    The Huskies jumped back out front 2-1 working on a power play, when Michael Sofillas slipped home his fourth goal of the season.

    Before the second period ended, Huskies centre Sean Aschim stole the puck from a Dinos defenceman in the University of Calgary zone and immediately fed a pass to his linemate Matthew Spafford, who was alone in front of the goal. The fifth-year forward wasted little time in tucking home his second tally of the campaign to put the Huskies up 3-1.

    While play though the first 40 minutes was fairly even, the Dinos came with a huge push back in the third period outshooting the Huskies 12-5. At the 5:55 mark, Dinos rookie forward Mitch Cook picked up his first goal of his Canadian Interuniversity sport regular season career to cut the gap to 3-2.

    With 29 seconds remaining in the third, Dinos fourth-year forward Dylan Walchuk deflected home a point shot from defenceman Drydn Dow to force a 3-3 tie. The Huskies protested that Walchuk’s goal was knocked home with a high stick, but the officials ruled the goal was good.

    The Dinos carried play in the first overtime period recording the only five shots on goal in the frame.

    The Huskies lone shot on goal in the second overtime period eventually led to Pearce’s accidental own goal.

    Jordon Cooke made 35 saves to earn the win in goal for the Huskies (16-3), who are ranked third in the CIS top ten rankings. Stanford, who is a graduate of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, turned away 19 shots in goal for the Dinos (7-8-4).

    The Huskies and Dinos will go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Rink.

Russians power Dinos past Huskies

Iya Gavrilova had a goal and two assists for the Dinos on Friday night.

    Iya Gavrilova and Sasha Vafina came through when the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team needed them the most.

    The two members of Russian’s 2014 Olympic team combined for three goals and two assists to push the Dinos past the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-2 at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.

    Gavrilova, who has two assists, netted the winner at the 12:59 mark of the third period, which broke a 2-2 tie. Vafina scored twice, while Stephanie Zvonkovic had the Dinos other tally.

    Feisty forward Marley Ervine and Lauren Zary replied with singles for the Huskies.

    Hayley Dowling made 24 saves to earn the win in goal for the Dinos. Jerrica Waltz turned away 21 shots to take the loss in goal for the Huskies.

    The Huskies, who are rated sixth in the CIS top ten rankings, fell to 11-6-2. The Dinos improved to 5-10-4, but they still sit last in the eight team Canada West Conference.

    Both squads go at it again on Saturday in Calgary.

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