CIS men's hockey Friday roundup: UQTR knocks off No. 2 McGill in OT

ANTIGONISH – Despite scoring first in the road game Friday night, the University of New Brunswick Varsity had to come from behind twice against the StFX X-Men before finally winning 7-6. The goals came in bunches and it was a very different match compared to the tight-checking 3-1 game that UNB won when the two AUS championship finalists played in Fredericton a week ago.
 
Veteran V-Reds forward Luke Lynes (Rochester Hills, MI) opened the scoring at 4:31 with a deflection off a Bretton Stamler (Edmonton, AB) point shot that beat Joey Perricone (San Juan Capistrano, CA) in the X-Men nets. Just 23 seconds later big StFX defenceman Mark Louis (Ponoka, AB) jumped up into the rush and scored past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB) to tie the game. At 15:39 Brennen Wray (Moose Jaw, SK) had a tap-in goal goal to put the X-Men ahead and late in the period power forward Bryce Swan (Alder Point, NS) scored to extend the StFX lead to two goals.
 
In the second period UNB's quick strike offence got going. Rookie Tyler Carroll (Strathroy, ON) continued his hot hand with a top corner goal at 11:54 and Dion Campbell (Melville, SK) tied it up at 14:10. StFX rookie Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, NS) put the X-Men back in the lead with a goal in tight 15 seconds later. It only took the V-Reds 17 seconds to answer and  re-tie the game thanks to captain Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) and then another minute and 13 seconds for rookie Thomas Nesbitt (Ottawa, ON to put UNB back in the lead.
 
The Varsity Reds started the third penalty shorthanded, and after a successful penalty kill defenceman Luke Gallant (Bedford, NS) hit Nesbitt with a long pass as he exited the penalty box. Nesbitt wasn't able to settle down the puck, but collected it in the corner and got it back to Antoine Houde-Caron (Trois-Rivièrs, QC) who beat Perricone with a quick shot at 2:08. Swan got the X-Men back within a goal at 4:18. A strong StFX forecheck got UNB off balance and they were called for too many men on the ice at 10:43. On the power play Kirkpatrick was the last X-Men back when he attempted a pass in the neutral zone that was picked off by UNB d-man Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) and fired the puck past Perricone at 11:15. StFX did get the goal back on the power play at 11:42, ywt another by Swan, but that was as close as the X-Men would come. UNB outshot StFX 28-25 in the 7-6 win.
 
Game Notes: StFX was 1-for-6 on the power play while UNB was 0-for-4 and have yet to score a power play goal three games into the season. Bryce Swan was the game's first star with three goals and an assist. The second star was Kyle Bailey while Thomas Nesbitt was the third star. Chris Culligan and Josh Kidd are still out of the V-Reds lineup. UNB moves onto Halifax Saturday night to play Saint Mary's.

Source: UNB Sports Info

NORTH BAY, Ont. - Dan Brewer scored one minute into overtime to seal a 4-3 Varsity Blues victory over the Nipissing Lakers in OUA men’s hockey action on Friday, October 21 at Memorial Gardens in North Bay, Ont.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 4-1-0, while the Lakers drop to 4-2-0 on the season. The game proved to be a rough affair, with both teams combining for 28 penalties.
 
Nipissing opened the scoring only 50 seconds into the contest with a powerplay goal off the stick of Jordan Gallea.
 
Blues leading scorer Byron Elliott of Burlington, Ont., would get the Blues on the board nine minutes later with a goal assisted by defenceman Tyler Turcotte.  Elliott had two goals and one assist in the win.
 
The Lakers added their second powerplay marker of the game to take a 2-1 lead after the first period of play.
 
Elliott would pot his second of the contest and even the score 8:50 into the second frame and second-year forward Blake Boddy added a powerplay goal of his own less than four minutes later to give Toronto their first lead of the game.
 
Nipissing’s Dorian Peca scored midway through the third period to tie the score at 3-3 and eventually force overtime.
 
Toronto goaltender Garrett Sheehan of Cremona, Alta., made 32 saves in the win.
 
The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Saturday, October 29 as they head to Kingston, Ont., to take on the Queen’s Gaels.  Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

OTTAWA - The uOttawa Men’s hockey team faced off against their bitter cross town rival, the Carleton Ravens, Friday night in what would turn out to be a mean spirited game. In the end, the Ravens claimed victory in an exciting 2-1 shootout win over the Gee-Gees.
 
The Gee-Gees got off a hot start against the Ravens, applying pressure right from the get-go. It took the home team only one minute and 25 seconds to score the game’s opening goal, when Stephen Blunden (Ottawa, Ont) buried a redirected shot that found its way to the open ice, leaving the Carleton goaltender out of position. The goal put the Gee-Gees up by one in the early going, swaying the momentum in favour of the Gee Gee’s.
 
The second period was a penalty-filled 20 minutes that saw the team’s trade power play opportunities. However, neither team was able to capitalize until the Ravens were given a two-man advantage in the final moments of the period. With 34 seconds left, Carleton forward Joe Pleckaitis was able to find the puck in a scramble and bury the short range shot through a crowd of Gee-Gee defenders, evening things up heading into the third period.
 
Although a back-and-forth third period yielded very little offensive action, the Gee-Gees penalty kill unit put on a defensive clinic, collapsing the shooting lanes perfectly and limiting the Ravens scoring chances.
 
Regulation time and overtime was not enough for the Gee-Gees and Ravens to settle the match, and with the score tied 1-1, the game was to be decided in shootout. However, in the end, the Ravens emerged victorious. The Gee-Gees hit two posts in the shootout, leaving the door open for Ravens’ goal scorer Pleckaitis to put the game away. On the third and final shot for the Ravens, Pleckaitis scored on a wrist shot off the left post.
 
Gee-Gees first-year goaltender Russel Abbott (Mill Bay, B.C.) turned out a phenomenal performance, making 30 saves and backstopping almost everything Carleton threw at the Gee-Gees. “[Abbott] was outstanding today,” explained head coach Real Paiement. “He gave us a chance to win, even in the shootout, where he made two big saves. He played a great game overall.”
 
“It was the type of game that could’ve gone either way, and both teams battled hard.” explained coach Paiement. “The amount of penalties called made the flow of the game very difficult, but as far as effort is concerned, either team could’ve won. Hopefully next time it will be us.”
 
The Gee-Gees enter the study break in eighth spot in OUA East standings. “Having no classes next week will allow us to sit down, review the video, and improve ourselves,” explained Paiement. The Gee-Gees will look to showcase those improvements when they return to action at Carleton on Saturday, October 29 and at home against McGill on Sunday, October 30.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (3-2 OUA) won for the second consecutive game as they defeated the Windsor Lancers by the score of 4-1 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
 
Brock opened the scoring just two minutes into the first period when freshman Sean Jones (Newmarket, Ont.) and Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan, Sask.) setup sophomore Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) for his third goal of the season.
 
Less than four minutes later at 5:44, Jones would bury a rebound at the edge of the crease past Windsor starter Dan Savelli. Savelli, who added just one save on three shots, was replaced by Parker Van Buskirk after the second Badgers goal.
 
With four minutes remaining in the first period, Brock freshman Dylan MacEachern (Mississauga, Ont.) beat Van Buskirk for his second goal of the season, to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead. Junior Josh Schram (Paris, Ont.) and senior Dan Dooley (Saint John, NB) added the assists.
 
The Lancers would get on the board midway through the third period at 10:53, when Evan Stibbard added a shorthanded marker for his first goal of 2011. Matt McCready and Steve Ferry were credited with the assists.
 
With the Lancers goaiie pulled, Stajan would put the lead pass to MacEachern who would add the empty-netter at 19:42 on the power play for his first two-goal performance in a Badgers uniform.
 
In goal, Brock senior Kurt Jory (Brandon, Man.) registered 32 saves for his second victory of the season. Savelli suffered the loss for the Lancers. Van Buskirk added 30 saves in a no-decision.
 
The Badgers will travel to Oshawa Saturday, October 22nd to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks at 7:30 pm.

Source: Brock Sports Info

WINNIPEG – The nation’s third-ranked Manitoba Bisons could not hold off the onslaught of the visiting Regina Cougars, as they were downed 6-1 Friday evening at the Max Bell Arena. The Cougars (1-4) pick up their first win of the year, while the Bisons (4-1) lose for the first time.

Brett Leffler led the way for the Cougars, notching two goals and an assist. Also scoring for Regina was Craig Cuthbert, Joel Kot, Russ Nielsen, and former Bison, Terrance DeLaronde. Jeremy Schappert replied for Manitoba.

Lucas Gore had a busy evening, making 33 saves for Regina. Joe Caligiuri suffered his first loss of the season while facing 10 shots for Manitoba.

Regina opened the scoring at 6:35 of the first period, taking advantage of an early Manitoba penalty. Leffler skated out of the corner and fed a pass to Cuthbert, who was left alone in front of Caligiuri, for the tap-in goal. It was Cuthbert’s first of the year.

The rest of the opening period took on a physical tone. First the Cougars’ Nielsen rode Bisons’ captain Mike Hellyer into the Regina net. That drew an interference penalty that Manitoba was unable to capitalize on. Two minutes later, Chad Erb stepped into Lucas Isley, just inside the Cougars blue line. Isley was bloodied and shaken up, but managed to skate off under his own power. Erb was assessed a five minute major for interference and a game misconduct.

During that power play, the Bisons Dane Crowley took a crosschecking penalty, dumping former teammate Terrance DeLaronde in the corner. On the ensuing five-on-three, the Cougars made the Bisons pay. First, a point shot from Kot found the back of the net at 16:23. Kot’s first with assists to DeLaronde and Ryan Sawka.

Exactly one minute later, and nearly a repeat of the second goal, Nielsen’s point shot was tipped by Strueby, and gave Regina their third power play goal of the opening frame. It was Stueby’s second tally of the year.

Regina added to their total in the second period, after Manitoba attempted to kill off another five-on-three. As the Cougars worked the puck deep in the Bisons zone, Mark Schneider’s shot missed the net, but Leffler was waiting on the other side to put it past a diving Caligiuri. Leffler’s first of the year came at 16:37.

Manitoba cut the deficit by three before the end of the second period when Schappert snapped one past Gore from the sideboards at 18:06.

The Cougars regained their four goal lead at 7:23 of the third, after DeLaronde poked a loose puck past Caligiuri for his third of the year.

Manitoba head coach Mike Sirant gave Jesse Deckert his first action of the early Canada West season, resting Caligiuri near the middle of the period. Unfortunately, he faired no better, as Leffler scored him on at 12:04.

The Bisons and Cougars conclude their weekend series, Saturday evening at the Max Bell Arena. Opening face off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info

EDMONTON - For the second time in three games, the No. 8 Alberta Golden Bears fought back from being three goals down, but couldn’t complete the comeback, this time in a 4-3 double-overtime decision for the Calgary Dinos, Friday evening at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

Red Deer native Cory Pritz scored the winner in tonight’s chapter of the Battle of Alberta while former Calgary Hitman Brock Nixon notched a goal and an assist. Another former WHLer for the Hitmen, freshman Tyler Fiddler, as well as sophomore Dino Walker Wintoneak, had singles for the visitors.

Rookies Thomas Carr and James Dobrowolski as well as sophomore Johnny Lazo tallied for the home team.

Calgary didn’t take long to strike, scoring only 1:24 into the game on their first shot when Fiddler tipped a Brett Bartman shot from the blueline.

Alberta, though they outshot the Dinos 8-4 in the opening frame, finished the period down 2-0 when Nixon completed a short-handed two-on-one by driving across the net, faked Bears’ netminder Réal Cyr into going down, and pulled the puck across the crease before tapping it in with 4:24 left to go.

Calgary struck quickly in the third period as well, as freshman David Robinson chased down the puck behind the Alberta goal, then shuffled a quick back-pass out front where Wintoneak flipped the puck top shelf 1:40 into the final frame.

Alberta, as they did seven days ago against Manitoba in a 4-3 regulation loss, started a comeback at the hands of a defenseman, with Carr driving home a howitzer to the top of Dustin Butler’s glove side, 8:09 into the third.

Strangely imitating the Bison-Bear game again, Dobrowolski scored the next goal, his second on the season, this time redirecting a Kruise Reddick shot while on the power-play.

Lazo knotted things at three with his fourth when he pounced on a loose puck in the Dinos’ slot 91 seconds later before the Bears headed to overtime for their second-straight game.

Alberta had the best chances in the first overtime, despite having no shots on goal, as Levko Koper and Greg Gardner had a two-on-one from centre ice, with Gardner shooting a one-timer high, and rearguard Jesse Craige rang a slapshot off the post with 15 seconds left.

Reddick had a breakaway from the Alberta blueline early in the second overtime but Pritz caught up to him just in time to prevent an intended deke.

An Ian Barteaux penalty then left Calgary on the offensive and a scramble in the Alberta slot led to Pritz finding a loose puck before sniping a screenshot top shelf to end the game.

The Golden Bears’ power-play woes continued, going 1-7 on the man-advantage while the Dinos went 1-2.

The Golden Bears will face off against the Calgary Dinos in game two of their home-and-home series tomorrow night at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary. Puck drop is 7:00 PM MT.

Source: Alberta Sports Info