SASKATOON, Sask. — Carter Stebbings netted three goals and added one assist on Friday night (Jan. 23) at Merlis Belsher Place, helping propel the USPORTS No. 4-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies to a convincing 7–4 victory over the visiting Alberta Golden Bears.

Stebbings' hat-trick performance was the first of his career in green and white, as the local Saskatoon product now has 11 goals on the season—two shy of his career high set during the 2024–25 campaign. Not to be outdone, Golden Bears forward Tyson Laventure posted an identical stat line in the loss, recording three goals and one assist of his own.

The victory improves Saskatchewan's record to 15-4-2 on the season and marks its eighth win in the past 10 games. The Huskies currently sit second in the Canada West East Division, trailing the division-leading Calgary Dinos by two points with seven games remaining, including a two-game home set against the Dinos on Feb. 6 and 7.

The loss drops Alberta's record to 9-8-4, as the Golden Bears have now lost eight of their last 10 outings. Despite the recent struggles, their record remains good enough for second place in the four-team West Division, which sees UBC holding a commanding 17-point lead over the Bears for the top spot.

Laventure opened the scoring in the first period on the power play, but Huskies defenceman Rhett Rhinehart quickly answered, finding the back of the net with the man advantage to knot the game at one apiece just before the first intermission.

Offence exploded for both sides in the second period, as the longtime interprovincial rivals combined for seven goals in the frame. Connor Roulette sparked the scoring just over three minutes in, displaying excellent patience in front before rifling his 12th of the season past Alberta netminder Ethan Kruger. Less than a minute later, Stebbings sniped his first of the night off the draw to give the Huskies a two-goal cushion. Laventure responded shortly after to cut the deficit to one.

Saskatchewan continued to press through the middle portion of the period. Just before the midway mark, Dawson Holt tipped a beautiful cross-ice feed from Roulette past Kruger, and one minute and 20 seconds later, Stebbings converted on an odd-man rush with Liam Keeler to make it 5–2. The Bears pushed back late in the frame, however, as Laventure completed his hat trick before Adam Hall narrowed the gap to 5–4 on the power play, closing out a frantic second period.

Despite surrendering two late goals in the second, the Huskies responded early in the third. After Jayden Joly was whistled for high-sticking, the Dogs' third-ranked power play capitalized, with Stebbings jamming home a loose puck in front to complete his hat trick. From there, Nolan Maier stood tall in goal, and Cole Jordan added an empty-netter to seal the 7–4 win.

The Huskies and Golden Bears will rest and reload for Game 2 of the weekend series on Saturday night (Jan. 24). Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.