LETHBRIDGE — Scoring three goals on four shots in the first period was all the Lethbridge Pronghorns needed to take down the Regina Cougars 4 – 1 on Friday night, taking game one of the weekend series.
 
Regina starter Dawson MacAuley was charged with the loss after being chased from his net after allowing two goals on three shots. Reliever Brandon Holtby turned aside 26 of the Pronghorns 28 remaining shots on his net. Taz Burman also had a strong performance for his side, coming out with a 40-save effort in his team's win.
 
Lethbridge came out firing early with a firm grasp on momentum, getting high-quality chances on the MacAuley-tended net.
 
Their efforts were rewarded with three quick goals in under three minutes, starting with a snapshot from Assistant Captain Brooks Maxwell through the legs of MacAuley.
 
Less than forty seconds later, a Dallas Valentine snapshot found its way through traffic to be deflected off a body in front and trickled past a screened MacAuley. The goal spelled the end of the night for MacAuley
 
Off of what could have been a failed break into the zone, a falling Valentine manages to get the puck to a streaking Mackenzie Mindus, who sent the puck to a slot-sitting Landon Gross, firing it past a sliding MacAuley for his team's third of the period.
 
Regina would fare better for the remainder of the first aided by two power plays, the Cougars outshot the Pronghorns 16-10 but trailed 3-0
 
The Cougars would stand strong in the first half of period two, preventing the Pronghorns from getting as many quality chances on their reliever, stifling the Pronghorns offence to only two shots on net in that time.
 
Regina gained some momentum shortly after the halfway mark of the game, as they found themselves intermittently trapping Lethbridge in their own zone for about three minutes. In that time, Burman turned aside multiple heavy chances with Hasek-like determination.
 
The score line remained the same to end the second like the first, with the Pronghorns maintaining their three-goal lead over Regina.
 
The Cougars found themselves in some penalty trouble to close out the second period, giving the home side a 39 second 5-on-3 powerplay to start the third.
 
While they would defend Lethbridge's two-man advantage in short time, the Pronghorns managed to find a way to break through Holtby. Torrin White cycled the puck with Russ Maxwell, and White set up a clean slapshot above the glove of Holtby, to increase his team's lead by a powerplay goal.
 
It was not long after Lethbridge's fourth marker that Regina would find their first answer of the game on a 5-on-3 powerplay of their own.
 
With just over a minute remaining in the penalty to Cameron Trott, the Cougars set up a cycle play in the offensive zone, with which Landon Peel would find Tanner Campbell set up perfectly for a slapshot that found its way past the glove of a screened Burman.
 
Neither team would find a consistent recapture of the momentum through the rest of the game to the home side's benefit. With both teams scoring one in the frame, the 'Horns would hold a 3-goal lead through the third, taking the game by a final score of 4 - 1.

With the win, Lethbridge's record improves to 2-1 on the season. Regina remains winless on the season with an 0-3 record.
 
The Pronghorns close out their weekend series against the Cougars on Saturday afternoon, at the Nicholas Sheran Arena. Puck drop is at 1 PM. Catch the action on www.canadawest.tv, presented by Co-op.