Matt Johnson, Huskie Athletics
SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan men's hockey team shutout the Lethbridge Pronghorns by a score of 4-0, as they picked up their fifth win of the season, on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Merlis Belsher Place.
"We continued playing the way we did last night in the first period, and it started to wear away on the opposition. I thought our guys showed good composure and that Lethbridge found a way to compete for the last thirty minutes," said Huskies head coach Dave Adolph.
Levi Cable scored twice for the Huskies, while Carson Stadnyk and Kohl Bauml also tallied markers. Jesse Forsbergregistered three assists on the night, while Logan McVeigh added his first two helpers of the season. Michael Sofillas, Wyatt Johnson and Sam Ruopp also added assists for the home side.
Huskies goaltender Taran Kozun recorded his second shutout in as many nights, as he turned away all 12 of the shots he faced in the game.
Taz Burman stepped in between the pipes for the Pronghorns, and did an admirable job of keeping his hockey club in the game, stopping 58 of the 62 shots fired his way.
The victory marks Saskatchewan's fourth straight victory and second straight sweep on home ice, which moves them to 5-1-0 on the season. Meanwhile, the loss closes an unsuccessful road swing for Lethbridge, who after dropping both contests, fall to 2-4-0.
Similar to the first game of the series, the Huskies got on the score sheet early, as their powerplay went right to work after a Pronghorns penalty. Cable parked himself on the doorstep and was able to bury the rebound from a Jesse Forsberg point shot into the back of the net.
At the 14:03 mark of the first period, Saskatchewan added to their lead. Jesse Forsberg delivered a beautiful stretch pass to spring Stadnyk, who raced down the left wing and roofed a wrist shot over the glove of Burman to make it 2-0 for the Huskies.
The Huskies continued to build on their momentum from the night prior, as they took their two-goal lead into the dressing rooms after a first period where they outshot the Pronghorns 20-8.
The Huskies were looking for more just under a minute into the second period, as they broke into the Pronghorns zone on a three-on-one. However, Burman kicked aside two tremendous scoring opportunities off the stick of Parker Thomas.
Lethbridge went right back the other way on the counterattack on an odd-man rush of their own, as Russell Maxwell sent a feed over to Artsiom Kalashnikov, but Kozun made his best save of the night as he slid across the crease and kicked away the shot, keeping the Huskies up 2-0.
Burman made another big-time stop minutes later when Jordan Tkatch broke in alone on net and went forehand-backhand and hoped to open up the goaltender with the deke, but Burman was able squeeze his legs for the great stop.
Minutes later Wyatt Johnson entered the zone and took on two Pronghorns defenceman and managed to split the needle and rifle a wrister off the bar. While his shot stayed out of the net, Bauml was there to clean up the scraps as he picked up his fourth goal of the season.
Moments later, Dakota Boutin who was making his U SPORTS debut, was looking for his first career Huskies goal. However his one-timer was stopped point blank by Burman, who managed to get a toe on the shot.
At 11:38 of the second, Cable capped off a pretty passing play as he tapped in the puck past Burman, off the feed from McVeigh, which marked the Huskies third powerplay goal of the night and gave them a 4-0 lead.
Saskatchewan continued to pour on the shots on the Lethbridge net, as through two periods they outshot the road team 48-11.
Burman continued to do all he could for his Pronghorns side in the third period, as he made a ridiculous sprawling save on Johnson, robbing the Huskies forward of the open cage.
The play of the third period was more controlled, however, the Huskies still managed to possess the puck for the majority of the frame as the final shot count finished at 62-12, in favour of the home side.
The Huskies will be back in action next weekend, as they will take on their provincial rival Regina Cougars in a home and home series, with the Huskies playing host on Oct. 26 at Merlis Belsher Place with puck drop slated for 7:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Lethbridge will play a home and home of their own, when they open up a two-game series against the Calgary Dinos on Oct. 26 at Nicholas Sheran Arena.