LETHBRIDGE — The Lethbridge Pronghorns could not continue their second period scoring surge in the final frame, as the Saskatchewan Huskies reclaimed their first period three-goal lead early in the third, burying the Pronghorns by an 8 – 5 final.
The Pronghorns treated the Nicholas Sheran Arena's faithful patrons well on Saturday by recovering from a 3 – 0 early first period hole by the end of the second frame, but the Huskies took control in the third, doubling their 40-minute marker total and erasing any semblance of a comeback.
Saskatchewan's Collin Shirley netted himself a hat-trick and the game-winning-goal on six shots with a +3 rating, while Jared Dmytriw) scored a goal and assisted on two others. Lethbridge's Joshua Patrician led his team with a goal and an assist on four shots.
Lethbridge opted to start Taz Burman in net after Jack Burgart's 5 – 2 loss to Saskatchewan on Friday, but Burman did not fare much better against the Huskies, allowing six goals on 38 shots before being relieved by Burgart. Burgart allowed two goals on 13 shots in just over 13 minutes of relief. Saskatchewan's Travis Child saved 35 of 40 shots he faced in his team's win.
In a similar fashion to their first contest of the weekend, the Huskies scored a trio of goals in the period to open the scoring and bury the Pronghorns early.
Following a Huskies faceoff loss, goaltender Travis Child kept play moving to Layne Young, who sprung a sprinting Levi Cable entering the Pronghorns zone. Cable fired a shot past the blocker side of Taz Burman to open the scoring.
Goal two came just over two minutes later, as the Pronghorns defence turned it over to Colin Shirley, who he headed directly to the Burman net, firing it above the netminder's glove to widen the lead.
Inside the eight-minute mark of the frame, Justin Ball cycled the puck over to Shane Collins, whose seemingly harmless wrist-shot from the half-boards beat Taz Burman high in the net.
Despite being down by three goals early, Lethbridge didn't give up trying to dig themselves out of the early hole. Brooks Maxwell forced a giveaway by the Huskies as they were setting up for a powerplay rush in front of their net and wristed it under the glove of Child.
Late in the frame, Joshua Patrician's wrist shot from the high slot was saved by Child but kept in a scrum up front. Michael Clarke recovered the puck, moved around a disoriented Child and tucked it into the net to narrow the gap to a single goal as the period came to a close.
The second frame saw both teams score, but a pair by Lethbridge saw them drawn even after 40 minutes of play.
After almost having the play broken at the Pronghorns blue line, Carson Stadnyk freed the puck at the half-boards to Jared Dmytriw and immediately over to Shirley, whose one-timed shot found its way past Burman.
Lethbridge's first goal of the second frame was thanks to a seeing-eye slap pass from Taylor Fisher that met Owen Guenter as he collapsed towards Child, redirecting it past the out-of-position netminder.
The period-tying goal by Josh Patrician was nearly coast-to-coast as he collected the puck at the near-side half-boards, carefully waiting for the shooting lane to open up in the Huskies zone, before his shot found the twine behind Child to mark the final goal of the frame.
Despite tying the game after 40 minutes, the wheels came off for the Pronghorns in the third, allowing two goals in the opening five minutes and two more in the final half-period of the game.
In the opening minute, Donovan Neuls' solo effort in the Pronghorns zone gave him space to fire a shot above the glove of Burman, serving as the lead-restoring goal and the end of Burman's night. Burgart stepped onto the ice in Burman's relief.
After being forced to leave the zone on the power play opportunity, Sam Ruopp sauced the puck to Shirley as he entered the Pronghorns zone and fired his shot off the far post and in behind Burgart, marked as the game-winning goal.
On a poor defensive recover in their own zone, the Pronghorns turned the puck over to an unmarked Dmytriw in front of Burgart, and he made no mistake putting it past the Lethbridge reliever.
Lethbridge's only goal of the period came on an extended five-on-three powerplay opportunity, as Child could not control Fisher's point shot, and Landon Gross recovered the rebound and put it behind the scrambling Child.
Gross' goal was negated shortly before the end of the game by Cable's empty-net tally, scored just after coach Murray Nystrom elected to pull Burgart for the extra attacker. That sealed the win for the Huskies, by a final score of 8 – 5.
With the win, the Saskatchewan Huskies (14-4-2, 30 Pts) move into a tie with the Calgary Dinos (14-4-2, 30 Pts) for second place in the Canada West conference. The Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-14-1, 11 Pts) remain in eighth place, three points behind the Regina Cougars (6-12-2, 14 Pts) and two points behind the UBC Thunderbirds (4-11-5, 13 Pts) in the race for the final playoff spot.
The Pronghorns head to Edmonton next weekend to take on the conference-leading Alberta Golden Bears (17-3-0, 34 Pts), while the Huskies take on the Dinos in Calgary
