SASKATOON, Sask. - A strong opening period and timely special teams play helped the Mount Royal Cougars secure a 6–2 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday night (Oct. 4) at Merlis Belsher Place, earning a weekend split with the Huskies in the opening weekend of Canada West action.

After prevailing over MRU the night before, the Huskies came into the second game of the weekend with momentum but found themselves quickly on the back foot. The Cougars came out with jump, pressing early and outshooting Saskatchewan 6–1 through the opening seven minutes. MRU was rewarded for their forecheck when Vaughn Watterodt opened the scoring, and just 30 seconds later, Tanner Komzak doubled the lead as the two Cougar forwards earned their first goals of the season, stunning the home side with an early 2–0 hole

Still, Saskatchewan found a response before the end of the first. With just over eight minutes left in the period, Liam Keeler led a strong rush up ice and connected with Conner Roulette, who found Carter Stebbings driving to the net. Stebbings made no mistake, tucking home his first of the season to cut the deficit in half and give the Huskies a much-needed spark.

Emotions ran high between the Canada West rivals as physical play escalated late in the period. A net-front scrum resulted in offsetting roughing minors for MRU's Connor Bouchard and Saskatchewan's Cole Jordan. Minutes later, the Huskies were granted a golden opportunity when forward Chantz Petruic was awarded a penalty shot. However, the veteran forward couldn't beat Cougars netminder Ethan Buenaventura, who made a timely save to preserve MRU's lead.

That stop proved critical, as the Cougars restored their two-goal advantage before the intermission. A rebound off goaltender Bryan Thomson's glove landed perfectly for Josh Tarzwell, who tapped it in to make it 3–1 at the break.

The middle frame saw momentum hang in the balance as the two sides continued to exchange heavy hits and penalties. Early in the period, Stebbings was sent off for cross-checking and things worsened when defenceman Landon Kosior was called for delay of game just 26 seconds into the penalty kill, forcing the Huskies into a tough 5-on-3 scenario.

But the Huskies' penalty-killing unit — one of the best in Canada West last season — stood tall as strong positioning and a few key saves from Thomson kept the Cougars off the board during the two-man advantage.
Midway through the period, the Huskies were again forced to kill another MRU power play after Cade Hayes was shown the box for cross-checking, but the Dogs continued to get the job done defensively. Despite being under pressure, Saskatchewan limited high-danger chances and kept the Cougars from extending their lead.

The penalties continued late in the frame, with Layton Feist heading off for high-sticking and Keeler taking a slashing penalty shortly thereafter. Neither side managed to break through during the ensuing four-on-four stretch, and the second period ended without a goal, with MRU still holding a 3–1 lead.

After Bouchard was caught for hooking just over a minute into the period, the Cougars widened the gap early in the third with a momentum-shifting short-handed goal. Justin Lies found Remy Aquilon from below the goal line and Aquilon rifled a one-timer past Thomson to extend the lead to 4–1.

The visitors struck again minutes later, with Connor Bouchard scoring his first goal of the new campaign on a quick transition play, making it 5–1. Mount Royal continued to press and added a sixth goal at the 11:50 mark when Layton Feist fired a one-timer through traffic from the point.

Saskatchewan pushed back late with Carter Stebbings recording his second of the night by cleaning up a loose puck in front while a third Bouchard penalty gave the Huskies one final power play opportunity with under five minutes to go, but MRU's penalty kill did its job to preserve the 6–2 lead and seal the victory for the Cougars.

Saskatchewan will now set their sights on Trinity Western as the Huskies head west for a two-game road matchup against the Spartans beginning Oct. 17th.