Men's hockey mounts comeback in Game 1 victory

Men's hockey mounts comeback in Game 1 victory

SASKATOON – Five different University of Saskatchewan Huskies scored in a comeback 6-4 win over the University of Calgary Dinos in Game 1 of a Canada West semifinal series Friday in Rutherford Rink.

The No. 10 ranked Dinos jumped out to a fast start to open the game and led 3-0 with four minutes left in the first period. Saskatchewan scored once in the final three minutes of the first and another four unanswered goals in the second to the take the lead. 

In the high scoring affair, Jordan Tkatch notched two goals for Saskatchewan, while Parker Thomas and Alex Forsberg each had a goal and an assist. Chris Collins scored a pair for the Dinos.

With the win, the No. 4 ranked Huskies take a 1-0 series lead over the Dinos' in the best-of-three semifinal.

Brayden Sherbenin opened the scoring at 6:59 in the first period for Calgary when his quick slap shot beat Canada West First Team All-Star goaltender Jordon Cooke just under the cross bar. On the play, trailing Huskies-Dinos players crashed into Cooke forcing him to exit the game. 

Under two minutes later, Calgary capitalized on a turnover in the neutral zone. A quick Dinos' pass to Collins, who was alone in the Huskies zone, resulted in a shot that beat a cold Taran Kozun top shelf at 8:33. Riley Sheen gave the Dinos a three goal lead before the first 20 minutes were over. He beat Kozun from the slot after a pass out from behind the net at 14:01. 

Jordan Tkatch cut the Dinos' lead back to two at 16:44 on a tip of a Kendall McFaull shot from the point after a Huskies' faceoff win.

Saskatchewan jumped out quickly to start the second period tying the game with two goals in the first 1:30 of the frame.  Alex Forsberg was sprung from the box and his initial shot was stopped by Dinos' netminder Matthew Greenfield, but Greenfield was unable to control the rebound and Parker Thomas chipped the puck by 23 seconds in. At 1:20, Huskies' leading scorer Josh Roach chipped in another Greenfield rebound.

Jesse Forsberg gave the Huskies their first lead of the game at 6:24 in the period. Receiving a pass in the neutral zone, the elder Forsberg sailed to the Dinos' net and deked Greenfield on a nifty move. Tkatch scored his second of the game short-handed at 8:59, just five seconds into the penalty. The goal chased Greenfield from the game in favour of Jordan Papirny. 

Collins gave life to the Dinos with 6:30 left in the game with a goal on a scramble in front of the Huskies' net, but it was as close as Calgary would come. 

Alex Forsberg sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:24.

Kozun made 19 saves in relief of Cooke, while Papirny made nine saves in relief of Greenfield. Cooke made six stops before exiting the game in the first, while Greenfield made 22 saves before leaving in the second. 

Puck drop on Game 2 is 7:30 p.m. Friday, while Game 3, if needed, is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.