WINNIPEG— The No. 3 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies came out on top in a 3-2 win over the Manitoba Bisons Friday night (Feb. 8) at the Wayne Fleming Arena. 

Manitoba left everything on the ice in their second-last game, putting forth a strong defensive effort. Saskatchewan came to the game battling for the two points to maintain their first place standing in the hopes of snatching home ice advantage throughout the Canada West postseason. 

"That's probably the most uptight I've seen our team play in a long time," said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph. "I really appreciated the way Manitoba played tonight, you know, there's nothing on the line for them and they played a good, gritty hockey game that was fun to watch."

Collin Shirley, Sam Ruopp and Jesse Forsberg all scored in the game as the Huskies improved their record to 24-3-0 on the season.

Saskatchewan's game-winning goal came just over 15 minutes into the final period. After a scramble in front of the net, a high rebound came out and Sam Ruopp buried the puck deep into the Bisons' net. Evan Fiala and Carson Stadnyk got the assists on the winner. In the last minutes of play, strong defensive play coupled with multiple strong glove saves from Dasan Sydora kept Manitoba within reach of sending the game to OT.

Sydora stopped 39 shots while Taran Kozun saved 23. Saskatchewan extends their win streak to nine in a row and gives them two crucial points while they vie to keep their top spot in the conference.

"You could see that these guys, they really want to finish the season the right way. There's still a lot to play for," said Bisons head coach Mike Sirant. "The game has been good to all of us and every time you put on the jersey, you respect the game by going out there and performing your best and those are the things we talked about before the game. We did a really good job tonight." 

The Huskies opened the game's scoreboard with a wraparound goal for the books from Collin Shirley almost seven minutes into the game. The assist went to Stadnyk. The Bisons wasted no time chipping one back. Brett Stovin ripped a goal off a feed from Nick Zajac just 21 seconds later, tying the game at one. 

After a scuffle in front of the Herd's net that involved some flying fists, the game turned to a five-on-three for Saskatchewan. The Bisons fought back hard on the penalty kill, effectively sending the puck down the ice several times and pushing back against strong offensive play from the Huskies.

They couldn't hold off the number three team for long, however, and after another penalty for the home team, Jesse Forsberg netted a power play goal with help from Alex Forsberg and Shirley. The goal sent the visitors to the lead heading into the second period.
 
In the second, the only goal came from breakaway off a pass from Keaton Jameson. Zach Franko busted down Kozun's defence and completed a perfect breakaway to tie the game at two. 

Adolph said securing home ice advantage isn't the most important thing to them. 

"Well, I just told our guys, if you can get to the final, we'll play in Grenfell [Saskatchewan] at an open-air ice rink, like why are we worried? The most important thing is going into playoffs on a high note."

Both teams will face off again tomorrow at 2 p.m. CST at Wayne Fleming Arena in Manitoba's final game of the season. You can catch the game live online at CanadaWest.TV.