SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team continued their dominant second-half stretch, as they took down their provincial rival Regina Cougars by a score of 4-0 on Feb. 7 at Merlis Belsher Place.
 
A pair of fifth-years in Andrew Johnson and Logan McVeigh were instrumental in the win. With both Johnson and McVeigh playing in their final regular-season game at Merlis Belsher Place, they each found the back of the net in the victory. Gordie Ballhorn and Jeff Faith also notched goals, while Jared Dmytriw and Collin Shirley tallied two assists apiece on the night.
 
With the win the Huskies improve their record 21-4-2 on the season, recording their 10th consecutive victory in the process.
 
Taran Kozun stopped all 20 shots he faced to record his fifth shutout of the season, which ties the single-season conference record that he set last season. The shutout is also the 11th of his Canada West career, which is a new Huskies program record and also ties him for second in the conference record books. Kozun passed Jordon Cooke and Jeff Harvey in the program record books.
 
At the opposite end of the ice Brandon Holtby stopped 35 of 39 shots for the Cougars, as Holtby did all he could to keep his club in the contest.
 
Saskatchewan remains in a race with the Alberta Golden Bears, as the pair of programs battle to finish top of the conference. While the Bears and Huskies remain tied in the standings, Alberta has the upper hand with the tiebreaker thanks to their head-to-head record with Saskatchewan, which means the Dogs will need some help from the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night to leapfrog their archrival in the standings.
 
Meanwhile, the loss was a blow to the Cougars playoff hopes. They will now enter the final night of the regular-season hunting for a victory to have any chance at the postseason dance. At the time of writing, the UBC Thunderbirds held a 1-0 lead over the Mount Royal Cougars, a result which would eliminate Regina from playoff contention. 
 
From opening puck drop the Huskies were rolling and they wasted little time finding twine.  Ballhorn opened the scoring just over six minutes into the contest, kick-starting a three-goal first period.
 
Andrew Johnson extended the lead to two midway through the opening frame, banging home his own rebound following an Evan Fiala point-shot.
 
Saskatchewan kept it coming, as they scored third of the night just under three minutes later.
 
The third tally was a thing of beauty for the Huskies. After Dmytriw led the breakout, he spotted Shirley soaring down the wing who worked into the zone and went cross-crease for Faith who made no mistake from the backdoor for the rookie's fourth of the season.
 
Entering the second period with a 3-0 lead, McVeigh's seventh of the season extended the Huskies lead to four.
 
From there, the Huskies were able to ride the out the remaining time, improving their record to 18-1 over the last five seasons over their provincial rivals.
 
Saskatchewan and Regina will finish their 2019-20 regular season Saturday night in the Queen City, as the pair of clubs trek south for part two of the home-and-home series.
 
That action can be watched live on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.