SASKATOON, SK – The dominant Dogs defended their home ice with a 6-2 homecoming victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place.
MacEwan opened their season last weekend with two losses to the Calgary Dinos, with Saskatchewan earning two impressive road wins against the Manitoba Bisons.
The Huskies came out hot, putting up a goal in the first two minutes of the game. Chantz Petruic slid one past MacEwan goaltender Ashton Abel, with assists from Carter Stebbings and Cole Jordan at 1:47 into the first period.
A wicked slap shot from Gunner Kinniburgh late in the second period would put the Huskies up 2-0. Adding to the first period tally was Vince Loschiavo with help from Justin Ball at 19:15. The Huskies would head into the first break with a 3-0 lead.
Stepping up to start the second period was Jaxan Kaluski. The third year product from Saskatoon fired one past Abel less than five minutes into the period, assisted by Colby Jaquet and Jordan.
MacEwan's Ethan Strang had the best opportunity for the Griffins at 4:32 into the period, with a wide open slap shot on Saskatchewan's Jordan Kooy that went just wide.
A heater from fourth year Justin Ball sailed past Abel into the top corner of the net for the unassisted goal and a 5-0 lead after two periods of play.
Rookie Josh Pillar would find the net in the third period. The Warman, SK product would nab an unassisted goal at 4:53 into the third and push the Huskies lead to 6-0. The Griffins would find themselves on the scoreboard with a beauty of a goal from Loeden Schaufler at 11:37 into the period.
Their second of the game would come from first year Vincent Scott, assisted by Liam Ryan and Sam Simard, to shorten the gap but the lead was insurmountable, and the Huskies took home their third win of the season improving their record to 3-0. The loss dropped the Griffins to 0-3.
"You have to respect your opponent and they played hard," said Saskatchewan Head Coach Brandin Cote. "Jordan made some timely saves at certain points in the second, and even in the third. Overall, I was happy with the energy and intensity for the most part."
Fifth year Ashton Abel would have 30 saves on the night for the Griffins. Jordan Kooy was electric in net for the Huskies, stopping 28 of 30 for the Dogs.
NEXT UP
Game two of the weekend series hits the ice on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 PM. Tickets are available at HuskieTickets.com and can be listened to live on HuskieFan.com. For those who are unable to make it down to Merlis Belsher Place, the live stream is available on CanadaWest.TV.
