SASKATOON – The No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies (20-4-2) extended their win streak to nine on Saturday night at Wayne Fleming Arena, coming back from two goals down to top Manitoba (9-13-2), 4-3.
Forward Ryan Carlson had a memorable opening three minutes for Manitoba, scoring twice within the first four minutes of play.
His first goal came 48 seconds into play, as he intercepted a puck in the neutral zone, deked past two Huskies and went five hole on Saskatchewan goalie
Travis Child. The second tally came at 3:15, as forward Lucas Skrumeda stopped up and found Carlson trailing behind the play, who ripped it off the post and in.
The Huskies got both goals back however. They netted their first at 8:56 courtesy of forward
Justin Ball. Teammate
Collin Shirley had taken the puck at the right slot off a face-off win and got a solid shot off that wound up right at Ball's feet on the rebound and he tapped it in.
Saskatchewan would then tie the game entering the second on a deflected shot from the blue line with 9:20 left. Forward
Kohl Bauml was the beneficiary, getting his stick on a
Gordie Ballhorn blast.
The Huskies surrendered just two shots against in the second period, doing a relatively good job of blocking shots while controlling the pace of play early on.
Saskatchewan also recorded the lone goal of the period at 1:05, as
Logan McVeigh cashed in on his own rebound on a play that was set up by a
Carson Stadnyk pass down low.
Manitoba goaltender Riley Lamb kept his team in the contest on multiple occasions, including an absolutely phenomenal sequence of saves on Stadnyk with eight minutes left. The first came on a Bisons giveaway from in close and the second occurred right after, as he flashed the leather on a backhand attempt.
The hosts went to work trailing by one entering the third. Bisons captain Adam Henry — playing in the final home game of his career — evened things up at three 7:01 into the third with a wrist shot that made it through traffic.
Saskatchewan would score the game-winner with 2:58 left, however, as forward
Jared Dmytriw broke in on an odd-man rush and beat Lamb low glove side.
Next up for the Huskies is a home-and-home set with the Regina Cougars to wrap up their regular season slate. Saskatchewan is currently knotted up with the Alberta Golden Bears for first-place in the conference with 42 points.
One thing this weekend did clarify for the Huskies is that they will host a best-of-three semifinal series on home ice February 21-23.