SASKATOON, Sask. - In game two of their best-of-three Canada West semi-final matchup, a pair of late third period power play goals courtesy of Chantz Petruic and Vince Loschiavo helped propel the Saskatchewan Huskies to victory over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds by a final score of 3-2 Saturday night at Merlis Belsher Place.
 
With 5:35 remaining in the third and Saskatchewan down 2-1, T-Birds defenceman Jonny Lambos was issued a five-minute charging major and a game misconduct, allowing the Huskies' number one ranked power play to go to work in the critical stages of a must-win game for the Dogs.
 
In what was the Huskies' seventh power play opportunity of the game, a seeing-eye Petruic point shot found its way to the back of the net, marking the Canada West First Team All-Star's second goal of the postseason and giving Saskatchewan new life with the score now tied 2-2.
 
A little over four minutes later, Loschiavo picked a perfect time to notch his first of the playoffs after a Petriuc cross-ice feed allowed the fifth-year business student to secure the game-winner with 44 seconds remaining, sending the series to a decisive game three matchup tomorrow night.
 
The outcome was shockingly similar to Saskatchewan and UBC's final matchup of the regular season, which saw Petruic score two power play goals to help secure a 3-2 win for the Dogs after Lambos took a five minute major and a game misconduct in their February 8th meeting.
 
"I think it's about being unpredictable," said Loschiavo when asked about Saskatchewan going three for seven on the man advantage. " [The key was] going into different positions and making different plays because [UBC's] kill was pretty good yesterday and I think we changed things up today and gave them different looks."
 
Petruic finished the game with a game-high three points after collecting a goal and two assists; meanwhile, Landon Kosior contributed by netting his second goal of the series to open the scoring for the Huskies in the first period.
 
For UBC, the T-Birds were led by third-year forward Jake Wright who collected two goals and an assist, while Jake Lee contributed to UBC's score sheet by netting the game's opening goal 5:47 into the first period.
 
In a game that saw the Huskies get out-shot 31-20, Saskatchewan starting goaltender Jordan Kooy put up another solid performance, making 29 saves enroute to posting a .935 save percentage while also making key saves down the stretch for Dogs.
 
At the other end of the ice, Cole Schwebius got the nod for UBC and the T-Birds netminder did what he could for his team, making 17 of 20 saves and posting a .835 save percentage despite his club spending 17 minutes on the penalty kill.
T-Birds head coach Sven Butenschon noted his team needs to be more disciplined heading into game three.
 
"Seven penalties last night, seven today. It's tough to win hockey games when you're spending a third of the game [in the penalty box]. Very difficult."
 
With both clubs vying for a spot in the Canada West Final, game three's puck drop is set for 6:00PM tomorrow night (March 2) at Merlis Belsher Place.