CIS men's hockey Friday roundup: Axemen start 2012 off with win over No. 6 Moncton

FREDERICTON – Friday night the top-ranked University of New Brunswick men's hockey team got off to a good start to the second half of the AUS season with a 5-2 win over StFX in front of 2376 fans at the Aitken University Centre, sparked by two goals by first-year forward Thomas Nesbitt.
 
The first period got off to a bit of a tentative start, as the two bitter playoff foes looked for an advantage. The Varsity Reds scored their first goal of 2012 at 4:56 when Thomas Nesbitt (Ottawa, ON) took advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone to fly down the left side of the ice and snap a shot from the top of the circle that beat Joey Perricone (San Juan Capistrano, CA) high on the short side and sent his water bottle flying through the air. Shayne Wiebe (Brandon, MB), playing in his first game as a V-Red, appeared to score at 11:41 on a lacrosse-style tip-in off the shaft of his stick, but the goal was waved off as Wiebe's stick was ruled to be too high. The fans didn't agree. There were no more goals in the close checking first period that saw UNB edge StFX 10-9 in shots on goal. The X-Men's best scoring chance came three-quarters through the period when Dan LaCosta (Labrador City, NL) stopped StFX captain Murdoch MacLellan (Mabou, NS) on a two-on-one. 

Early in the second period Dion Campbell had a breakaway from centre ice, but he couldn't beat Perricone's glove. A few minutes later Jason Bast (Reginsa, SK) forced LaCosta to make a big save just after the X-Men killed off a checking from behind penalty to Derek Claffey (Red Deer, AB). At 7:14 X d-man Gabriel O'Conner (Beloeil, QC) rang a heavy shot off the post. A couple of minutes later Campbell had another breakaway, this time shorthanded, but again he was stopped by Perricone's glove.
 
Midway through the period UNB was the beneficiary of a quick whistle when the puck trickled through LaCosta's squeezed pads but a goal was waved off by referee Thayer Doyle.  After the game, StFX head coach Brad Peddle was not happy with the decision on the play. “You want to watch the video, it was in. Everybody in the rink knew it was in. In a game like this that is a pivotal call.” After dodging that bullet, UNB extended their lead at 16:15 when, after losing an edge in the V-Reds zone, defenceman Josh Kidd (Sundridge, ON) from his knees passed the puck to Antoine Houde-Caron (Trois-Rivières, QC) in the neutral zone, who then quickly got the puck to Nesbitt who in turn beat Perricone with another top shelf shot for his second goal of the game. Shots in the second period favoured StFX 8-6.
 
After killing off a penalty to start the third period, UNB extended their lead to 3-0 at 3:33 when Tyler Carroll (Strathroy, ON) was at the bottom of the faceoff circle to redirect a slap-pass from Bretton Stamler (Edmonton, AB).  Around 7:30 UNB's Daine Todd (Stettler, AB) was rocked by a high hit from Marco Desveaux (Cheticamp, NS), but there was no penalty on the play. There were penalties a few minutes later however, when after d-man Harty had a good scoring chance driving the net he got into a spirited tussle with X's Bryce Swan (Alder point, NS). Both earned slashing penalties and Harty got an extra minor for roughing after the whistle.  The X-men took advantage of the power play to get on the board when Brett Morrison (Sydney, NS) was all alone at the side of the net for an easy tap-in off a rebound at 9:45.

Less than a minute later UNB got that goal back when Perricone made an initial save off new V-Red Geordie Wudrick (Abbotsford, BC), and then an acrobatic move to twist and knock away the bouncing rebound, only to have the puck go right out to Houde-Caron at the edge of the blue paint for a relatively easy goal. Seconds later UNB took another penalty and the X-Men cashed in again. This was to be a controversial goal, as the V-Reds players on the ice, their bench and the home fans argued that Jarrad Struthters (Glace Bay, NS) had kicked in the puck at 11:01, but the goal stood.
 
It didn't take UNB long to get that goal back either, as Todd scored at 12:55 on a great second effort mere seconds after the V-Reds killed off yet another penalty. The rest of the period saw the home side forced to kill off another penalty but really not allow the X-Men to get back in the game. Shots were 12-8 for UNB in the period, with six of the StFX shots coming on their four power plays. Overall the V-Reds outshot X-Men 28-25 in the game. StFX was 2-for-7 with the man advantage while UNB was 0-for-3 on the power play.
 
On his two snapshot goals in the game, first star Thomas Nesbitt said, “A lot of nights I'm just trying to get shots on net and sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't.  I think I was just trying to get it off as quick as possible. I wasn't wasting any time and I might have got lucky and caught the goalie off guard.” When asked about his team's first win of the half, Nesbitt replied, “Overall I think we're happy, but we know we can play better.”
 
First place UNB will host the Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday night while StFX will travel to Charlottetown to play UPEI.
 
Game Notes: Three stars – 1. Thomas Nesbitt 2. Antoine Houde-Caron 3. Bretton Stamler. Geordie Wudrick and Shyane Wiebe each had an assist in their first game for the V-Reds. UNB netminder Travis Fullerton is out of the line-up with a minor injury and Matt Davis was on the bench as backup. StFX was missing defenceman Mark Louis, serving the first game of a three-game suspension for a contact to the head major and match penalty for a hit on SMU's Stephen Johnston back on November 30. UNB captain Kyle Bailey was not dressed as he had to serve an automatic one-game suspension for a contact to the head major when he retaliated after being checked from behind into the boards by Ottawa's Matt White in an exhibition game on New Year's Eve.

Source: UNB Sports Info

WOLFVILLE, NS - Two goals each by veteran forward Jonathan Laberge and second year forward Andrew Clarke catapulted the Hockey Axemen to a 5-2 win over the CIS #6 ranked Moncton Aigles Bleus. Both teams have met three times this season with the Axemen gaining a 2-1 edge after their win tonight and their season opening 9-2 victory in mid-October.

Scoreless in the first period, with the Axemen posted a 12 to 7 shots on net advantage, however, things opened up in the second period with rookie forward Alex Beaton taking advantage of a loose puck in the blue paint, shoveling in his seventh goal of the season.

Pressuring the Aigles Blues back onto their heels, Moncton's goalie Pierre-Alexandre Marion stole several opportunities away from the Axemen during the midpoint of the second period. Acadia eventually drew a penalty shot during a Moncton power play, which saw Axemen sophomore defenseman Michael Ward taking his chances against the confident Marion. Ward was stone-walled by Marion, and the Aigles Blues would later capitalize on the same power play at 7:51 on Mathieu Labrie's first goal of the season.

Tied at one, the Axemen quickly responded with a goal coming from veteran centerman Jonathan Laberge. Laberge potted his third goal of the season coming from a nice pass from teammate Spencer Jezegou. Several minutes later, Acadia's leading goal scorer Andrew Clark scored his 11th goal of the season, extending Acadia’s lead to 3. Moncton, however, would capitalize on another power play chance near the end of the period, cutting the Axemen’s two-goal lead to one on a Simon Lacroix goal.

Near the end of the second period, tempers flared after second year defenseman Cullen Morin took a hard hit against the boards from Moncton Christopher Guay, creating a scrum break out between the players on the ice. Several game misconducts were handed to both teams and Acadia would come out with a two minute power play, with Moncton’s Guay getting tagged for boarding.

The third period would play out in Acadia’s favour with goals coming once again from Clark and Laberge. Clark scored his second of the night at the 13 minute mark after taking advantage of a Moncton blunder that saw him throwing the puck into an empty net, while Laberge scored his second of the night on the power play in the closing minutes of the game.

Acadia out-shot the Aigles Bleus 35-21 as Axeman netminder Evan Mosher posted his eighth win of the season and sits in third place in the AUS goaltending ranks with a 2.80 goals against average.

The third star of the game was awarded to newcomer Chris Moulson who offered an assist on each of Laberge's goals. Laberge would take the first star of the game after playing confidently against the CIS #6 ranked Aigles Blues. Andrew Clark leads the AUS in scoring with 27 points that include 11 goals and 16 assists.

Acadia will play their second game of 2012 tomorrow night as they host the 3-10-2 St. Thomas Tommies at 7pm. The struggling Tommies are coming off of a 1-0 loss against Dalhousie, while Moncton heads to Halifax to take on the Dalhousie Tigers

Game notes: Axemen rookie forward Nicolas Choinard took a hard hit in the Moncton zone, resulting in a concussion and will miss an undetermined amount of games. Chris Moulson posted two assists in his first game with the Axemen after leaving Cornell University last season.

Source: Acadia Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont.- Kirk Sullivan scored all of his team's goals, completing a hat-trick with the game-winning marker just 10 seconds into overtime, as the RMC Paladins surprised the Ryerson Rams with a 3-2 victory on Friday evening.

Frank Carbonaro (Edmonton) tallied his first goal of the season in the opening period to give the Rams an early lead.  However, RMC would answer just over a minute later on the power-play with Sullivan's first of the contest.

Thornhill, Ont. native Greg Payne's team-leading ninth of the season temporarily restored the Rams lead in the middle frame, however Sullivan would find the goal on the power-play late in the second to tie the game.

The Rams went 0-for-4 on the power-play, while the Paladins were 2-for-6. Ryerson outshot RMC 41-25 on the night, including 22-8 in the second period. Troy Passingham stopped 22 shots in goal for Ryerson, while Matt Beirnes saved 39 shots for RMC.

Ryerson will look to re-group against the East division leading McGill Redmen on Saturday evening in Montreal.  Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info

MONTREAL - Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., scored the insurance goal and added an assist as No.2-ranked McGill tripled the Ottawa Gee-Gees 3-1 in OUA men's hockey action at McConnell Arena, Friday.
  
It snapped Ottawa's seven game-win streak and marked the 14th consecutive Redmen victory over the Gee-Gees since a 3-2 playoff loss in the nation's capital on Feb. 20, 2009. McGill is now 91-77-10 lifetime against Ottawa.

McGill, which had a 36-22 margin in shots, broke open a scoreless game with a pair of goals during the first three minutes of the second period.
 
They clicked of a 5-on-3 power-play at the 46-second mark when Christophe Longpre-Poirier of Longueuil, Que., converted passes from Picard-Hooper and point-man Marc-Andre Dorion of St. Hubert, Que. 

Team captain Evan Vossen, a fifth-year senior from Swift Current, Sask., then beat Ottawa netminder Russell Abbott to complete a nifty three-way passing play at the 3:10 mark. Blueliners Hubert Genest of Quebec City and Dorion each drew assists on the goal.
 
Picard-Hooper gave McGill some breathing room with his fourth goal of the season at 4:25 of the final stanza. The goal was set up by Andrew Wright of Toronto and Ryan McKiernan of White Plains, N.Y.
 
The Redmen maintained their slim perch atop the OUA East with a 14-1-2 record, one point ahead of UQTR (14-5-1), which defeated Careleton 7-5.
 
The third-place Gee-Gees, coached by former Redmen defenceman and assistant coach Real Paiement, fell to 11-7-1.
 
"Ottawa is a big, physical, well-coached team," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "Considering that, I thought we played a complete game tonight. We were solid for 60 minutes, our penalty-killing unit was not scored upon (in five shorthanded situations) and our PP scored twice."
 
It was pointed out that the team was officially 1-for-8 with the man-advantage as an apparent power-play marker by Wright was disallowed by referee Alexandre Cote.
 
Nobes explained that the team's video of the disputed goal appeared to indicate that the net did not come off the moorings at the time the puck crossed the line and in his mind the power play unit accomplished what they were supposed to do. A photo of the play also appears to support the claim that the net was in its proper place when the puck entered the net.
 
Senior goaltender Hubert Morin registered 21 saves for the victory, improving his record to 8-2. He now ranks second among all OUA goalies with a stingy 1.98 goals-against average and sits fourth with a .922 save percentage. He owns a 42-9 lifetime record in league play and is a dozen victories shy of the school's all-time record of 54 regular season wins by Mathieu Poitras, who played from 2004 to 2008.
 
Dorion improved his team-leading total to 27 points in 17 games, tops among all CIS defencemen. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior, who has had tryouts with three NHL teams, was voted as the most outstanding CIS defenceman as a sophomore and looks to be the leading candidate to win the award again this season.
 
McGill will complete their back-to-back home-stand then they host much-improved Ryerson on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Rams are 7-7-3 and expected to arrive at McConnell Arena in ill humour, in the wake of a 3-2 overtime loss at RMC on Friday. 
 
REDMEN RAP: Missing from the McGill lineup was sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, who made the 6.5 hour trek home to Mashteuiatsh, Que., on Tuesday to attend the funeral of a close friend. He is expected back in time for the Ryerson game... While he was missing, the Redmen welcomed back Marc-Andre Daneau, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior winger from Daveluyville, Que., who was making his season debut after suffering a knee injury in the season opener at Lakehead. "It was great to get Marc back in the lineup," said Nobes. "His energy and PK skill were missed and it makes us a better team to finally have him healthy."

Source: McGill Sports Info

The Carleton University Ravens men’s hockey team fell 7-5 in a high-scoring road battle with fierce rivals, the UQTR Patriotes, on Friday night.
 
Felix Petit (Jonquiere, Que.) scored twice and added an assist, while Olivier Hotte (Mirabel, Que.) and Emannuel Boudreau (Iles-de-la-Madelaine, Que.) had three assists each to pace the Patriotes to a home win over their division rival. Netminder Guillaume Nadeau (St-Jean-Chrysostome, Que.) stopped 24 shots for the victory.
 
Ravens point leader Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) gave his team a quick start with his ninth goal of the season just 57 seconds into the game.
 
The Patriotes responded furiously, getting four unanswered goals from Petit, Charles Bety (St-Bernard-de-Beauce, Que.), Felix Lefrancois (Baie-Comeau, Que.) and Maxime Gravel (Chateau-Richer, Que.).
 
Late in the second period, Joe Pleckaitis (Ottawa) scored his first of two in the game, cutting the deficit to a pair heading into the final frame.
 
But the Patriotes came out firing in the third, getting three goals and a 7-2 lead by the 13-minute mark of the final period.
 
The Ravens scored three straight goals in the final six minutes, including career-firsts for off-season NCAA recruits Michael Folkes (Burlington, Ont.) and Andrew Glass (Boston, Mass.), but it was a matter of too little too late once again for the Ravens, who continue to slide in the OUA East with their fifth straight loss.
 
Matthew Dopud (Pointe-Claire, Que.) struggled in the loss, with 15 saves on 22 shots.
 
Carleton returns to action on Jan. 13 with a visit to Nipissing, where it will continue a stretch of five straight games away from the Ice House. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (8-8-1 OUA West) started off the second half of the OUA regular season with a 6-2 win Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre against the UOIT Ridgebacks (3-15-1 OUA West).
 
Badgers fifth-year senior Ryan Allen (Fort McMurray, Alta.) scored his first goal of the season at 10:22 of the first period, on an assist from Josh Schram (Paris, Ont.), to stake the Badgers to a one-goal lead that held until three minutes into the third period.
 
Then the Badgers exploded for four-straight goals to take a 5-0 lead: Sean Jones (Newmarket, Ont.) converted a pass from Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) at 3:18; Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) scored a shorthanded goal on an assist from Derek Brochu (Welland, Ont.) at 7:24; Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) scored a powerplay goal on assists from Stajan and Daniel Tanel (Brampton, Ont.) at 10:24; and Abercrombie connected on the Badgers powerplay with assists from Kevin Christmas (Hamilton, Ont.) and Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan, Sask.) at 13:25.
 
After Mike Noyes scored for the Ridgebacks less than a minute later, Allen scored his second goal and the team's third powerplay marker of the contest on assists from Dylan MacEachern (Mississauga, Ont.) and Brochu to make the score 6-1 with less than four minutes left.
 
The Ridebacks rounded out the scoring with a goal from Josh Vatri.
 
In between the pipes, Badgers goaltender Kurt Jory (Brandon, MB) made 31 saves for the win and now owns a 7-7 win-loss record. The Ridgebacks Jeff Dawson stopped 28 shots in the loss.
 
With three points on the night, Stajan leads the Badgers with 20 points and sits 20th on the OUA points list.
 
The game was a feisty affair with both teams combining for 70 penalty minutes – 42 for UOIT and 28 for Brock
 
Brock went 3-for-8 with the man advantage while UOIT was 0-for-6.
 
The Badgers will hit the road Saturday for a very important game against the Laurier Golden Hawks (4-12-1 OUA) who sit eighth in the OUA West.

Source: Brock Sports Info

LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs men’s hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 7-4 on Fri. Jan. 6 at Thompson Arena with seven Western players recording at least two points.
 
 Julian Cimadamore, Keaton Turkiewicz and Steve Reese had two goals apiece with Turkiewicz adding two assists and Reese recording one. Scott Aarssen had a goal and two assists on the night while Kevin Baker, Zach Harnden and Tyler Peters each had two assists. James Marsden scored twice for Laurier as Mitchell Good and Mike Mascioli added the remaining goals.
 
 Western started their first game of the 2012 half of the season ready to go as the Mustangs lobbed the puck into Laurier territory and forechecked hard. The Golden Hawks tried to break out of their zone, but Turkiewicz held the puck in at the blue line and launched a pass to Baker. Baker made a quick cross-ice pass to Cimadamore who fired a goal home for a 1-0 lead just 22 seconds into the game.
 
 Reese added the Mustangs’ second goal before the ten-minute mark. Reese cradled a pass from linemate Harnden and deked around Laurier’s defender before beating netminder Ryan Daniels with a backhand shot on the short side.
 
 Laurier’s Zack Shepley was called for a high-sticking infraction on the ensuing play and Western went to work on the man-advantage. The Mustangs moved the puck around the offensive zone, Aarseen jumped on an open opportunity, pinched down low and fired a one-timer past Daniels.
 
 The Golden Hawks made their mark on the scoreboard just before the end of the first frame. Zack Woolford hit Mascioli with a pass at the top of the slot. Mascioli fired a shot through traffic and over Valiquette’s right shoulder for a 3-1 score heading into the second.
 
 Turkiewicz scored his first goal of the contest at 6:42 of the second period. Western’s powerplay capitalized as Harnden made a quick pass out to Turkiewicz who wired a shot from the slot, beating Daniels.
 
 Laurier brought the game within two while on the powerplay after the puck took an unusual bounce off the glass and fell into net.
 
 Turkiewicz opened the third period scoring on a scrum in front of the net. Turkiewicz grabbed the loose puck and beat Daniels on the second attempt.
 
 Laurier responded and Good rushed the puck into Mustangs territory. Good streaked down the left wing and Western defenceman Aarssen slid to block the pass across. Good maintained possession of the puck and roofed a shot in the top right corner for a 5-3 score.
 
 Marsden scored Laurier’s fourth goal while Western's Reese notched another powerplay goal and Cimadamore added an empty net goal for a final score of 7-4.
 
 Both teams played a fast, physical game with Western outshooting the Golden Hawks 38-26. Valiquette made 22 saves and held Laurier to one powerplay goal on three opportunities. 
 
 Western will travel to York University tomorrow Jan. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. match.

Source: Western Sports Info

The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Waterloo Warriors 5-1 on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON.

Both teams came out playing a smart game, not wanting to be the first to make a mistake. Lakehead was looking to set a physical tone early on as several players were throwing their body around.

It looked like Lakehead got on the board midway through the first when Trevor Gamache chipped away at a rebound in front of Waterloo netminder Keaton Hartigan.  According to the home crowd, the puck crossed the goal line but was ultimately waved off by the officials after a short conversation.

Both teams headed to the dressing room for the first intermission knotted at zero’s, with Lakehead leading in shots on goal 13-8.

It was a tense second period, with both teams playing a tight, but entertaining game. The 0-0 deadlock lasted until 9:33 of the second, when Lakehead defenseman Chris de la Lande went coast-to-coast, weaving his way though the entire Waterloo team, and rifled the puck over Hartigan’s shoulder .  The assists were credited to Thomas Frazee and Lakehead goaltender Alex Dupuis.

Lakehead came out firing in the third period, and Jake Carrick scored his fifth goal of the year just 55 seconds into the final frame on a sneaky shot that found its way through Hartigan’s legs, giving Lakehead the 2-0 lead. The assists went to Adam Sergerie and Matt Caria. The two-goal cushion was short lived, as Waterloo’s Chris Ray fired a perfectly placed one-timer over Dupuis’ shoulder to cut Lakehead’s lead to 2-1 at 1:14 of the third.

Lakehead restored its two-goal lead at 6:05 on a beautiful shorthanded effort from Trevor Gamache as he fought off a Waterloo defender, faked backhand, and pulled it around Hartigan.  The unassisted shorthanded marker put Lakehead in front 3-1. The Wolves added another at 16:18 when a Mike Hammond wrist shot deflected off a couple of bodies in front and past Hartigan to increase Lakehead’s lead to 4-1.  Assists on the goal were credited to Keith Grondin and Mitch Fillman.

Lakehead’s Keith Grondin added one last goal with 32 seconds left in the game off a nifty backhand pass from Hammond, with the other assist credited to Frazee.

The Molson 3 Stars of the game were:
1. Mitch Maunu
2. Trevor Gamache
3. Mike Hammond

Both teams are back at in Saturday night at the Fort Williams Gardens, with the opening face-off set for 7:30.

Source: Lakehead Sports Info

REGINA - The University of Regina's men's hockey team opened up the second half of the Canada West schedule with a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night in a conference game at The Co-operators Centre.
 
Manitoba (11-4-2) got goals from Mike Hellyer, Jared Walker, and Blair Macaulay while goalie Joe Caligiuri stopped 15 shots in the victory. Lucas Gore (pictured) made 34 saves for the Cougars with Brett Leffler and Matt Strueby providing the offence for the U of R.
 
Manitoba opened up the scoring six minutes into the first period despite being a man down. After forcing a turnover, Ian Duval came in on a 2-on-1 and slid it over to Hellyer, who beat Gore for his fourth of the season. The Bisons extended the lead with a power play goal later in the opening 20 minutes, as Walker's long shot through traffic picked the far corner and gave the visitors a 2-0 cushion going into the first intermission.
 
Leffler got the Cougars (4-11-2) on the board in the early stages of the second. A shot rung around the boards was tipped out front to the second-year forward, who found himself alone at the side of the net and scored his fourth Canada West goal of the campaign to cut the lead to 2-1.
 
Manitoba restored the two-goal lead in the opening minute of the third as Macaulay picked off an errant Regina pass and scored his Canada West-leading 14th of the season and what would turn out to be the game-winning goal after holding off Gore with a move to the forehand on the ensuing breakaway.
 
The Cougars pulled Gore with just under three minutes left in the third and Matt Strueby cut the deficit to one with a goal off a rebound with 33 seconds left, but the home side was unable to come up with the equalizer despite heavy pressure in the waning moments of the game.
 
Manitoba was 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Cougars were scoreless on their three opportunities with the man advantage.
 
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at The Co-operators Centre.

Source: Regina Sports Info

CALGARY – Greg Gardner's tally on a delayed penalty situation late in the second period stood up as the winner as the No. 5-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears edged the Calgary Dinos 3-2 Friday night in the first conference action of 2012 for both teams Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena.
 
With 16:31 elapsed in the second, Gardner took a Sean Ringrose pass toward the net with an extra attacker on the ice for the Bears and fired it past a sprawling Calgary netminder Dustin Butler for the eventual game winner as the Bears came back from a 2-1 deficit to win, gaining a measure of revenge over the Dinos – who beat Alberta by the same 3-2 score earlier this week at the SAIT tournament and had won both previous regular season meetings between the two clubs.
 
The loss drops the Dinos to 9-8-0 on the season, while Alberta improves to 12-3-2. The two provincial rivals will do battle once more Saturday night as they head north to Edmonton's Clare Drake Arena.
 
Alberta got on the board first just over eight minutes into the opening period. Defenceman Thomas Carr fired a nifty pass into the slot, finding Jordan Hickmott behind the Calgary defence. In tight, Hickmott deked Butler to the stick side and slid it into the yawning cage.
 
The Dinos knotted it up just over five minutes later on their third power play of the period. Teigan Zahn's point shot deflected to Reid Jorgensen, who had a couple of whacks at it before roofing it over Real Cyr for his fourth of the season to tie it up 1-1.
 
Just 3:22 into the second period, Brock Nixon gave the Dinos their first lead on their second power play tally of the night, banging a rebound past Cyr along the ice.
 
But the Bears replied with a pair of goals in non-5-on-5 situations. With each team having one in the penalty box, a Calgary defender sent a blind behind-the-back pass into the slot in his own zone. Johnny Lazo pounced on the loose puck and fired a shot on Butler, and Sean Ringrose banged in the rebound to tie it up, setting the stage for Gardner's game-winner.
 
The third period produced zero offence on either side. The Dinos had one final opportunity on the power play with 4:11 remaining, but despite good pressure and puck possession in the offensive zone, the home side couldn't solve Real Cyr. As the clock ticked down, the Bears' solid neutral-zone pressure kept Calgary at bay and forced the Dinos to ice the puck twice in the final minute of play.
 
After the Dinos held a 10-6 advantage on the shot clock in the opening period, the Bears dominated the final 40 minutes with 25 against just 14 for Calgary. Alberta finished with a 32-24 advantage in shots on goal.
 
The Dinos had most of their chances, and both of their goals, on their seven power play opportunities. Alberta went 0-for-5 with the man advantage, though two of those power plays were short-lived with the Bears called for penalties of their own.
 
Cyr stopped 22 of the 24 shots fired his way to win his eighth game of the season, with both Calgary goals coming on the power play. Butler turned aside 29 shots sent his way and was charged with the loss, his fourth of the campaign.
 
Saturday's game in Edmonton will be the final regular season contest between the Bears and Dinos in 2011-12. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at Clare Drake Arena, and the game will be broadcast live on CanadaWest.tv.

Source: Calgary Sports Info