Dinos force deciding Game 3 with 2-1 win

Recap by Ethan Bomhof, MRU Sports Information

CALGARY, Alta. – The University of Calgary Dinos downed the Mount Royal University Cougars 2-1 on Saturday night to force a deciding game three in the Canada West men's hockey semifinal.

After giving up six goals in game one, the Dinos delivered a defensive masterclass, with goaltender Carl Stankowski playing incredibly between the pipes. The veteran netminder made 28 saves in the contest.

"We're a good defensive team and we had to buckle down," said Dinos' head coach Mark Howell. "Part of it is putting the puck 200 feet away from our net."

Calgary got their first lead of the weekend with a goal from Gavin Schmidt partway through the opening period. Schmidt tucked a shot through the legs of Shane Farkas on a successful odd-man rush.

In the second, MRU star forward Connor Bouchard was cut on the nose after taking a big centre ice hit. He would be forced to leave the game for repairs but returned later in the period, donning a new jersey after leaking blood on his original one.

The Cougars would tie it up halfway through the period. Justin Lies fired a low one-timer through a screen while on the powerplay. Lies' first of the playoffs would be Mount Royal's only goal of the game.

Later in the period, the Dinos retook the lead when the Cougars suffered a defensive lapse. Wyatt Wilson sprung Riley Gannon a breakaway and he made no mistake to make it 2-1.

Mount Royal head coach Bert Gilling had to give Calgary credit for their play but couldn't help but think the Cougars made it a little too easy on them.

"I give full credit to U of C. They defended well and made it incredibly hard for us to get to the net. It was an outstanding effort by the Dinos, doing what they had to do to win the game. It's up to us to answer tomorrow," said Gilling.

"If you look at their two goals, we kind of gave them. And the way these games are, they're so tight–it's a razor's edge. You can't give away free opportunities. But you've got to give Calgary credit. They took advantage of those."

The Dinos executed their gameplan and settled in very well after being dominated in game one.

"Even though we played playoffs last weekend, when you play a calibre of team as Mount Royal, a lot of our young guys realized that these games are way heavier than the regular season," said Howell on his team's bounce-back performance.

The Cougars will go back to the drawing board for game three but are not in uncharted territory. Last season's semifinal, Mount Royal defeated Alberta in game one before losing 6-0 in game two. Somehow, they collected themselves to beat the Golden Bears in game three and advanced to the Canada West final.

Gilling made sure to remind his group of what happened last year.

"We actually talked about it tonight. We needed to make sure we stayed on our toes," said the Cougars' bench boss.

Sunday's winner-take-all game is set to deliver in all aspects of the game. The nerves are there but the will to win is ever-present as well. Winner moves on and earns a spot at nationals; loser goes home.

Game three is set for 7 p.m. at Flames Community Arena. It's expected to be another sell-out. Tickets are available online and the game can be streamed live on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel.