Huskies hold off Thunderbirds in Game 1 of Canada West men’s hockey final
Saskatoon, Sask. – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team is one win away from their 11th conference championship in program history after they defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 3-2 in Game 1 of the Canada West Final on Friday, Feb, 28 in front of a crowd of 2,281 at Merlis Belsher Place.
Jordan Tkatch, Carson Stadnyk and Layne Young all found twine in the victory for Saskatchewan with Young’s marker, the first of his Canada West postseason career, coming midway through the third period and standing as the game-winning goal.
“It feels really good. It’s an unbelievable feeling; the atmosphere was unreal in here tonight,” said Young. “It’s good to get the win.”
The Huskies, who finished the regular season winning 19 of their last 20, have now won 14-consecutive games and will be hoping number 15 comes on Saturday night in Game 2.
“We always talk about Game 2 and how important it is. You have to be better every night to be successful,” said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph. “Your next game has got to be better and we’ll be better.”
Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds, who already punched their ticket to the 2020 University Cup in Halifax with last weekend’s semifinal series win over the Alberta Golden Bears, will need to bounce back to continue their chance at a first Canada West title in program history.
UBC worked themselves into 2-0 and 3-1 deficits throughout the contest, but goals from Jake Kryski and Maxwell James allowed the visitors to hang in the game. But unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, James’ tally with 31.1 seconds remaining in regulation was too little too late.
“Our season is on the line tomorrow. (If we can) continue to take them wide and go to the net and get under their skin, hopefully, we can get some more powerplays,” said Thunderbirds head coach Sven Butenschon. “We had a great second and third period. Tomorrow if we can play three periods, I think we’ll be fine.”
The Huskies hopped out in front just before the midway point of the first, as Tkatch a former Prince Albert Raider, opened the scoring off a beautiful give-and-go with Canada West Rookie of the Year Jared Dmytriw, giving the Huskies the early 1-0 lead.
Saskatchewan controlled play throughout the opening frame, outshooting the visitors 14-2 in the first 20 minutes.
The Huskies kept it coming in the second. The first-line of Andrew Johnson, Logan McVeigh and Stadnyk worked into the zone and after the puck touched all three of the forward’s sticks, it was Johnson who fed Stadnyk on the backdoor, who wired home his sixth-career conference postseason goal.
After Stadnyk, who spent his entire WHL career with the Everett Silvertips, was the overtime hero in Game 2 of the Canada West semifinal, he scored his second goal in as many games to extend Saskatchewan’s lead to two.
The T-Birds, who responded with a more energetic second period despite still trailing by two, were rewarded with a much-needed tally late in the frame. Kryski, the former Calgary Hitmen forward, brought the visitors back within one. Kryski was the beneficiary of a well-executed give-and-go with Austin Glover, as he ripped a short-side snipe past Kozun. Kryski, who recorded 216 career points over his six-year WHL career, tallied his seventh point of the Canada West playoffs, tying him for first in the conference with the second-period tally.
“You’ve got to find a way to chip in, you’ve got to find a way to get on the scoresheet, we kept grinding and grinding, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy but the Sandhu-Glover-Kryski line put together shift, after shift, after shift and eventually they were going to break through,” said Thunderbirds head coach Sven Butenschon.
But any momentum UBC was able to gather after Kryski’s tally late in the second was quickly stalled, as Saskatchewan re-gained their two-goal lead. Young broke into the zone, and fed Cable, who’s feed was deflected past Toth by Young, to make it 3-1.
With time winding down on the Thunderbirds comeback attempt, James was able to operate down low and work his way out in front of the cage, beating Kozun to bring the visitors back within one.
However, UBC was unable to muster up the equalizer, as Saskatchewan escaped with the victory.
Game 2 will go Saturday night in Saskatoon, as the Huskies look to finish off the Thunderbirds, with a quartet of fifth-year forwards in Cable, Kohl Bauml, Logan McVeigh and Andrew Johnson all looking to finish their Canada West careers with a conference title.
“All four of our fifth-years are just unbelievable people, and I think they just deserve a championship,” said Young.
All the action can be watched live on CanadaWest.TV presented by Co-op.