Game Information
 
Date: Friday, Jan. 31 & Saturday, Feb. 1
Time: 7:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.
Location: Saskatoon, Sask.
Venue: Merlis Belsher Place
Watch: Canadawest.tv
Get in the Action: Tickets
 
SASKATOON – Red-hot doesn't do the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women's hockey team's current win streak justice.
 
The Huskies, who are in the midst of one of their best regular-season campaigns in recent memory, will return home to Merlis Belsher Place this weekend for a pair of conference clashes against the Manitoba Bisons, where they will play three of their final four games of the season.
 
Saskatchewan, who has already clinched their 12th consecutive playoff spot, managed to pull out a pair of tremendous wins on the west coast, recording the team's second sweep in Vancouver in the past three seasons.
 
Battling back after trailing 2-0 in the first period and 3-2 entering the third, Saskatchewan tallied twice in the final frame to pull out a 4-3 regulation win over UBC. The Huskies followed up the effort with yet another two-goal third period on Saturday evening, to pick up the 3-1 win.
 
The chase is on for Saskatchewan. The Huskies' goal of playing host to a semifinal series at Merlis Belsher Place for the first time in the building's history is heating up after their sweep of the Thunderbirds. Paired with Saskatchewan getting the help they needed with the Alberta Pandas taking down the Calgary Dinos in the first game of the weekend series, the Huskies are now in control of their own fate. Saskatchewan, who are tied with Calgary in the standings, holds the tiebreaker thanks to their season sweep of the Dinos.
 
However, the Bisons will be gunning to foil the plans of the Huskies, with their own playoff fates in mind. Despite sitting on the outside looking in, Manitoba is by no means out of the race. To reach the postseason, they need to start making up points on the team's ahead of them in the standings, specifically the Thunderbirds and Lethbridge Pronghorns.
 
The Huskies will be hungry to snap a streak of five-consecutive matchups against the Bisons finishing in a weekend split, with the club looking to build upon its six-game winning streak as they set out for their fourth-consecutive sweep this weekend.
 
5 Things
 
1: Bringing out the brooms. With the Huskies sweep over the weekend, they recorded their first stretch of three-consecutive series sweeps since the 2011-12 season, when the club went on to win seven-straight games. Saskatchewan has only recorded three-consecutive sweeps on four occasions since the program joined the Canada West in 1998-99 (11-12, 07-08, 09-10). With a pair of wins this weekend Saskatchewan would establish a new program record with eight-straight victories.
 
2: Talk about a one-two punch. Goaltenders Jessica Vance and Camryn Drever, who both recorded a win against the Thunderbirds, each sit in the top-six in conference goals-against-average and save-percentage among qualified goaltenders. Since the Huskies series against the Mount Royal Cougars on Nov. 29 & 30, which started the team on a stretch of eight wins in ten games, Vance and Drever have only allowed 11 goals combined during that stretch (1.1 goals-per-game).
 
3: Abby Shirley was instrumental in the Huskies win on Saturday night in Vancouver, as the third-year forward registered a point on all three of her team's goals. The Delisle, Sask. native's snipe in the third period of the contest, provided her side with the all-important two-goal lead, guaranteeing the series sweep for Saskatchewan.
 
4: When Saskatchewan holds a lead at the end of the first, good luck. When entering the first intermission with a lead, the team holds a 7-0-0-0 record.
 
5: Saskatchewan will look to continue their dominance on home ice this weekend. The Huskies hold a 7-1-2-1 record at Merlis Belsher Place in 2019-20, with their last loss in Saskatoon coming back on Nov. 22 against their provincial rival Regina Cougars.
 
Scouting the Bisons
 
After qualifying for the postseason in seven-straight seasons, the Bisons are in the midst of a rebuilding year and are on the verge of missing the postseason for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
 
Manitoba, who won both the Canada West championship and national title back in 2017-18 have ten first-years on their roster this season, compared to only three fourth-years and two fifth-years.
 
However, despite their youth, Manitoba has proven to remain competitive, perhaps best exemplified by their split against Calgary at the Wayne Fleming Arena back on Jan 10 & 11, as they shocked the Canada West with their 2-1 victory in the series finale to up-end the Dinos, who at the time were leading the conference.
 
The Bisons are 5-5-0-0 in their last ten games and have split their previous three series.
 
Scoring hasn't come easy for Manitoba, who doesn't have one skater in the top-20 in points this season. Jordyn Zacharias, one of the team's two fifth-years, leads the team with ten points. However, Zacharias, who is the lone skater with double-digit points on the season, enters the weekend on a hot streak with three goals in her last five games.
 
Goaltenders Erin Fargey and Amanda Schubert have split time between the pipes for the Bisons this season. Fargey has been the hot hand as of late, with the second-year netminder finding her groove with four wins in her last five starts.