Lethbridge – Lethbridge Pronghorns scored twice in the final frame to earn a much needed and a well-earned victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2 Saturday night at Nicholas Sheran Arena.
Lethbridge goals were scored by Winston Day Chief, Dustin Moore and Daniel Iwanski. Derek Hulak and Andrew Bailey replied for the Huskies. Scott Bowles turned aside 38 shots on the night for the ‘Horns while Huskies’ David Reekie stopped 31.
Boxscore
Bowles was put to the test early as the Huskies opened the game generating some aggressive scoring chances. A hard slap shot from Brennan Bosch narrowly missed the back of the net as his rocket hit the post and went wide. Minutes later another close effort by Hulak also took a piece of the post.
After an unsuccessful power play earlier in the period, the Huskies would capitalize on their second attempt with a man advantage late in the frame. Third-year forward, Andrew Bailey out-deked the ‘Horns defense and unloaded a hard wrister up high, glove side, just out of the reach of Bowles at 17:41, putting the Huskies on the board first.
Huskies went into the first intermission with the 1-0 lead and held a slim 9-7 advantage on the shot clock.
A couple of quick successive penalties meant the Huskies would, again, be forced to battle shorthanded, creating an important 5-on-3 power play opportunity for the Pronghorns. After struggling momentarily with offensive formation, Winston Day Chief snuck the puck across the crease to Moore who would slide the puck past Reekie to knot things up at ones.
The final minutes of play in the second period saw great efforts at each end of the rink. A blast from Lethbridge’s Nicholas Hotson was gloved down by an outstretched Reekie and moments later, Derek Hulak earned the difference maker, his sixth of the season, giving his team the lead with only 11 seconds remaining in the period.
Just past the halfway mark in the third, Taylor Gal found Dan Iwanski streaking in through the slot who was able to take the pass and get a quick shot off that deflected in, beating Reekie, and tying the game.
Maintaining offensive pressure, the ‘Horns came flying into the Huskies’ zone. Day Chief, corralling a pass from Curtis Cooper, snuck it past the scrambling net-minder and gave the home team their first lead of the night.
Despite being outshot 12-10 in the third frame, the Pronghorns would hold on for the win and move to 4-11-3 while the Huskies sit at 13-3-2. Next up for the Pronghorns is a home and home matchup versus the University of Calgary Dinos next weekend. The Huskies return to Saskatoon where they host the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears.
