SASKATOON – After going 13-1 on home ice last season, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team picked up their first win of the 2019-20 campaign at Merlis Belsher Place with a 5-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday, Oct. 18.
 
It was a dominant performance by Saskatchewan who outshot the Pronghorns 40-18 on the night, as they moved to 8-1 on home ice against Lethbridge since the 2014-15 season.
 
Carter Folk opened the scoring for the Huskies, while Carson Stadnyk marked his first multi-goal regular-season game since Jan. 4, 2019, with a two-goal performance. Logan McVeigh and Shane Collins also found the back of the net in the win.
 
Cody Spagrud picked up the first point of his U SPORTS career with a first period assist. Gordie Ballhorn, Collin Shirley and Evan Fiala each picked up a pair of helpers, while Wyatt Johnson also chipped in with an assist.
 
After stopping 34 of 37 shots against the Alberta Golden Bears in last Saturday night's overtime loss, Taran Kozun was solid once again between the pipes for the Huskies. The 2018-19 U SPORTS Goalie of the Year registered his first shutout of the season with an 18-save performance.
 
Pronghorns goaltender Taz Burman allowed three goals on 19 shots before being pulled in the second period. Former Saskatoon Blades netminder Nikolas Amundrud kicked aside 22 of 24 shots in relief.
 
The win is the Huskies first of the season, and with points in back-to-back games, they now sit with a 1-3-1 record through five games. Meanwhile, with the loss, Lethbridge moves to 3-2 on the season.
 
Saskatchewan started to press near the midway of the first frame, and they were rewarded with the game's first chance as Shirley was sprung on a breakaway, but the third-year forward was stopped by Burman to keep the game scoreless.
 
Just moments later, the Huskies were rewarded for their opening period pressure, as Folk walked into the slot and sniped his second goal of the season to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at 8:01 of the first period.
 
Just under five minutes later, McVeigh gained body position in front of the Lethbridge net, and deflected Spagrud's point shot to extend the Saskatchewan lead to two.
 
The Huskies controlled play and outshot the Pronghorns 15-7 in the period, taking the two-goal lead into the intermission.
 
Saskatchewan went to the powerplay early in the second and took advantage. Stadnyk scored 1:27 into the period to make it 3-0.
 
Just under two minutes later, the Huskies continued to grow the lead, as Collins found twine to make it 4-0 in favour of the home side.
 
Late in the frame, Stadnyk picked up his second goal of the game and third of the season off a nifty passing play from Wyatt Johnson, who set up the Saskatoon native from behind the cage to beat Amundrud and give the Huskies a five-goal lead through two periods of play.
 
The Huskies took care of business in the third period, outshooting the visitors 14-6 in the final 20 minutes, rolling their way to the win.
 
Saskatchewan and Lethbridge will take the ice for the second time in as many days tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.
 
All of that action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.