SASKATOON, SK - A disastrous 11-minute stretch in the second period cost the Huskie men's hockey team on Saturday night. The Mount Royal Cougars posted a 7-4 win over Saskatchewan at Merlis Belsher Place in the final game before the Christmas break. "We shut our brains off", said head coach Brandin Cote. With the Huskies up 1-0, a talented Cougar hockey team took advantage of some Saskatchewan mistakes. 

THE HIGHLIGHTS
The Cougars scored twice in a 51 second span and in the blink of an eye the Huskies were facing a 2-1 deficit. Canada West leading scorer, Connor Bouchard, tied the game at the 5:01 mark. Less than a minute later Tristan Zandee lifted the Cougars to a 2-1 lead…a lead they wouldn't give up. Bouchard, who had a 5-point night, assisted on a Daniel Kernaghen goal that made it 4-1. Bouchard then scored a power play goal at 15:53. Saskatchewan allowed five goals in 10 minutes and 52 seconds. 

"For whatever reason, in the second, we didn't look like ourselves at all", said Cote. We were running around. It looked like we didn't know where we were going, which is totally uncharacteristic. We are big on structure and we just had no structure. Credit them…they (Cougars) played hard and their best players made us pay at times."

Bouchard scored two into the empty net in the third period to finish the night with 4 goals and 1 assist. The Cochrane, Alberta product now has 35 points in 16 games. Chantz Petruic scored a first period power play goal for Saskatchewan which was a call to action for the fans on "Toque & Mitt Toss" night. Ben Tkachuk, Carter Stebbings and Vince Loschiavo had third period markers for the home side. 

The Cougars were 3 for 3 with the man advantage, while the Huskies scored once on three power play chances. Mount Royal goaltender Shane Farkas registered his second straight win at Merlis Belsher Place with a 19 save performance. Jordan Kooy of the Huskies stopped 24 of 29 Mount Royal shots. 

THE STANDINGS
The Cougars remain in a third-place tie with Alberta in the Canada West standings with 26 points. Saskatchewan stays in fifth place with 22. 

THE NEXT ONE
The Huskies head into the winter break and will return to action on Saturday, January 6th when the Regina Cougars visit Merlis Belsher Place at 5:00 PM for a U-Prairie Challenge competition. Tickets are available at HuskieTickets.com and fans can listen in live on HuskieFAN.ca. 

The U Prairie Challenge presented by SaskMilk is a celebration of varsity sport in Saskatchewan. This annual points-based competition between the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan involves 11 different men's and women's events, including soccer, football, hockey, volleyball, basketball, track and field, and cross country.