MHKY: Dinos force Game 3 with Huskies
February 24, 2023
CALGARY - The Calgary Dinos have forced a decisive Game 3 in their Canada West Semifinal against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
Colson Gengenbach scored the game-winning goal with five minutes remaining in the third period, helping Calgary to a 4-2 decision on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena.
"We didn't have enough guys around the puck last night, we were a little bit late and we were late on our sticks," Dinos head coach Mark Howell explained. "They are a big team and we got some size too, you just got to play really heavy and win puck battles and we did more of that tonight."
Despite the Dinos having their backs against the wall, it was the Huskies who came out with several quick chances and held Calgary without a shot in the early moments of the game.
The home team did manage to strike first at the 13:54 mark of the period, as Noah King found Riley Stotts driving to the net. He managed to avoid a sliding defender and ripped the puck past Saskatchewan goaltender Roddy Ross to put his team up 1-0.
Saskatchewan tied the game six minutes into the middle frame as Alec Zawatsky tipped the puck in off a point shot from Ty Prefontaine.
With neither side wanting to make a mistake, the third period was tentative until Calgary broke the tie with just over seven minutes remaining. The crowd erupted as Bradley Schoonbaert tucked the puck top shelf from a nearly impossible angle, but the celebrations were shortlived as Justin Ball replied with a Saskatchewan power play goal just over a minute later.
The Dinos pulled ahead for good off a scramble in front of the Huskies' net. With multiple players battling atop the crease, it was Gengenbach who managed to finish the play.
The game was sealed in the final two minutes with an empty net goal by King.
Dinos netminder Carl Tetachuk had a strong performance with 31 saves in the win. Ross turned away 19 of 22 shots in the Saskatchewan net.
"There was a lot of emotion in the third period, but you have to give the guys credit, they stuck with the game plan all game," Howell said. "We learned our lesson last night about how hard you have to play to be successful."
"I thought it was a great game, I thought both teams battled really hard and they were fighting for their season and we wanted to end it to move on, but I thought we were right there. I give them credit, they are a great team and they found a way to win. We just made one too many mistakes at the end and they capitalized on it," Huskies bench boss Brandin Cote said.
Game 3 takes place on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena with a 7 p.m. puck drop. Tickets are on sale at GoDinos.com/BuyTickets
Colson Gengenbach scored the game-winning goal with five minutes remaining in the third period, helping Calgary to a 4-2 decision on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena.
"We didn't have enough guys around the puck last night, we were a little bit late and we were late on our sticks," Dinos head coach Mark Howell explained. "They are a big team and we got some size too, you just got to play really heavy and win puck battles and we did more of that tonight."
Despite the Dinos having their backs against the wall, it was the Huskies who came out with several quick chances and held Calgary without a shot in the early moments of the game.
The home team did manage to strike first at the 13:54 mark of the period, as Noah King found Riley Stotts driving to the net. He managed to avoid a sliding defender and ripped the puck past Saskatchewan goaltender Roddy Ross to put his team up 1-0.
Saskatchewan tied the game six minutes into the middle frame as Alec Zawatsky tipped the puck in off a point shot from Ty Prefontaine.
With neither side wanting to make a mistake, the third period was tentative until Calgary broke the tie with just over seven minutes remaining. The crowd erupted as Bradley Schoonbaert tucked the puck top shelf from a nearly impossible angle, but the celebrations were shortlived as Justin Ball replied with a Saskatchewan power play goal just over a minute later.
The Dinos pulled ahead for good off a scramble in front of the Huskies' net. With multiple players battling atop the crease, it was Gengenbach who managed to finish the play.
The game was sealed in the final two minutes with an empty net goal by King.
Dinos netminder Carl Tetachuk had a strong performance with 31 saves in the win. Ross turned away 19 of 22 shots in the Saskatchewan net.
"There was a lot of emotion in the third period, but you have to give the guys credit, they stuck with the game plan all game," Howell said. "We learned our lesson last night about how hard you have to play to be successful."
"I thought it was a great game, I thought both teams battled really hard and they were fighting for their season and we wanted to end it to move on, but I thought we were right there. I give them credit, they are a great team and they found a way to win. We just made one too many mistakes at the end and they capitalized on it," Huskies bench boss Brandin Cote said.
Game 3 takes place on Saturday at Father David Bauer Arena with a 7 p.m. puck drop. Tickets are on sale at GoDinos.com/BuyTickets