Huskies break longstanding wins record with sweep of Cougars

Kozun breaks into goaltending record books too

Parker Thomas and Taran Kozun mark a Huskies win.

    It had been tied on a couple of occasions before finally being broken.

    On Saturday before 1,670 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team thumped the Mount Royal University Cougars 6-1 in a U Sports regular season contest to improve to 23-3. With their 23^rd win, the Huskies set a new team record for wins in one regular season.

    The old record of 22 wins was posted on three occasions. The former mark of 22 victories was first established in the 1987-88 season, when the Huskies posted a record of 22 wins, five losses and one tie.

    The Dogs reached 22 wins again in the 1999-2000 regular season posting a record of 22 wins, three losses and three ties. The record was last equaled in the 2015-16 campaign when the Huskies posted a 22-6 record. That season marks the last time the Huskies won the Canada West title.

Taran Kozun has posted 19 wins in goal this season for the Huskies.

    U of S equaled its former wins record on Friday downing Mount Royal 1-0 in double overtime before 1,713 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place.
    Fourth-year winger Levi Cable scored the only goal of the contest at the 1:35 mark of a second five-minute overtime period with captain Jesse Forsberg picking up the assist.
    Taran Kozun made 14 saves to pick up the shutout in goal for the Huskies. Rookie Riley Morris turned away 44 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars.

    In Saturday’s encounter between these two squads, the Huskies led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after the second frame. They expanded their edge to 6-0 in the third before the Cougars rounded out the game’s scoring with the final goal.

    Forsberg scored twice for the Huskies, while Carter Folk, Donovan Neuls, Collin Shirley and Sam Ruopp had singles. Connor Chartier had the lone reply for the Cougars.

    Kozun made 25 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

Levi Cable had the double OT winner for the Huskies on Friday.

    Fourth-year netminder Colin Cooper turned away 34 shots to take the setback in goal for the Cougars, who fell to 12-12-2 to remain fourth in Canada West.

    When Chartier beat Kozun at the 15:58 mark of the third period, that goal ended a shutout streak that lasted an impressive 267 minutes and 32 seconds for the Huskies puck stopper. Kozun’s streak, which spanned over five games, set a new Canada West Conference record for the longest consecutive shutout streak in regular season play.
    Before being beaten by Chartier, Kozun last allowed a goal to Brooks Maxwell of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at the 14:11 mark of the second period in a 5-4 Huskies win in Lethbridge on Jan. 19.

    The old Canada West record for longest consecutive shutout streak in regular season play was held by former University of Calgary Dinos goalie Kris Lazaruk. During the 2014-15 campaign, Lazaruk posted a shutout streak lasting 255 minutes and three seconds that spanned over five games.

Jesse Forsberg had a big weekend for the Huskies.

    With the sweep of the Cougars in the books, Kozun, who is in his sophomore season, has posted an impressive 19-3 record, a 1.79 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and five shutouts in goal for the Huskies this season.

    The Nipawin, Sask., product has matched the Huskies team record for most wins in one regular season by a goaltender. He shares the record with former teammate a recent Huskies grad in Jordon Cooke.
    Cooke recorded 19 wins in two separate regular seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

    As a team, the Huskies are one point shy of matching their team record for most standings points collected in one regular season, which currently sits at 47 points set in the 1999-2000 campaign.

    The Huskies, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, have won their last eight straight games, and with their 23-3 mark, they top the Canada West standings with a one point lead over the defending conference and U Sports national champion University of Alberta Golden Bears (22-3-1).
    The Golden Bears, who are rated first in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, have won 11 straight and have recorded points in their last 19 regular season games. 

Donovan Neuls scored for the Huskies on Saturday.

    If the Huskies can win their final two regular season games, they will lock up first place in the Canada West regular season standings for the third time in the last four years.

    They close the regular season by traveling to Winnipeg to face the University of Manitoba Bisons (6-18-2) on Friday and Saturday.

    The Golden Bears conclude their regular season with a pair of games against the Dinos (18-6-1-1). The two squads meet Friday in Calgary and Saturday in Edmonton.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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