CALGARY – After a shaky start to the evening, the University of Calgary Dinos showed some poise and maturity coming back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Lethbridge Pronghorns 8-2 in their final game of the 2011-12 season at Father David Bauer Arena Friday night.

Boxscore

Despite giving up goals on two of their first three shots against in the first period, the Dinos scored eight unanswered to end the night – including a hat trick performance by Hayley Wickenheiser.

After Shelby Ballendine and Chelsea Minor had scored for Lethbridge, Wickenheiser got the Dinos on the board at 15:53 of the opening frame with her first of three goals on the night as she swiftly moved from the point into the slot and outwaited Pronghorns goaltender Shauntelle Parsons before throwing it upstairs for a power play tally to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

Minutes later the Dinos were shorthanded when Stephanie Ramsay skated into the Pronghorns zone with speed, cut towards the middle of the ice and snuck one by Parsons to even the game up at two apiece. Ramsay finished second on the team with three points on the evening.

Wickenheiser’s second goal came early in the second period. Similar to her first, she deked her way into the slot and fired one by the Lethbridge goalie to make it 3-2 for the red and white.

After taking the lead, the Dinos didn’t look back. They continued to lay the pressure on throughout the second period with myriad shots before Elana Lovell tapped in a rolling puck at the side of the net, potting her 12^th of the season to make it 4-2 Calgary.

Shots were 36-8 Calgary after 40 minutes of play.

The Dinos doubled their scoring output in the third period as Erika Mitschke, Kira Sonnenberg, and Iya Gavrilova added their names to the scoresheet. Gavrilova, in her first game back after playing with Team Russia, was all over the ice when finally her hard work paid off and she notched the Dinos’ seventh goal.

With just over 3:30 left in the game, Wickenheiser completed the hat trick and moved herself into a tie for fourth place in the Canada West scoring race with nine goals on the season, making it 8-2 for Calgary.

The Dinos started the game with third-year back-up goaltender Jennifer Mallard in net but after allowing the two quick goals she was replaced by Amanda Tapp. Tapp had a relatively quiet night, making nine saves en route to her 10^th win of the season.

Lethbridge went 0-for-6 on the power play, while Calgary went 3-for-8 in the winning effort. Calgary outshot the Pronghorns 48-12 with Wickenheiser and Gavriolva leading the way with eight and six shots, respectively.

The Dinos leapfrogged from fourth to second in the Canada West standings, improving to 11-4-0 on the season while the Pronghorns fall to 10-6-1.

These two teams face off again Saturday in the second game of the home-and-home series in Lethbridge, with the puck set to drop at 7:00 p.m. live on CanadaWest.tv.

-UC-