LETHBRIDGE — After a four-game losing streak that saw only two goals enter their opponents' nets, the Lethbridge Pronghorns returned to form with a 4 – 3 shootout win over the Calgary Dinos on Friday night.
Fans at the Nicholas Sheran Arena were treated to a memorable night in West Lethbridge, Alberta, that saw their Pronghorns have a ten-shot lead over the visitors evaporate in the third period.
Add to that the stellar performances from both first star Alicia Anderson (40 SVS, 3 GA) and second star Kelsey Roberts (38 SVS, 3 GA) in the overtime periods, and a fantastic shootout winner for Kianna Dietz, Friday night made for a wild game neither club will soon forget.
Opening the game with a giveaway by the Pronghorns, Dinos captain Paige Michalenko controls the puck, and bounces the pass off the boards to Delaney Frey, who blitzes into the Lethbridge zone towards Anderson.
Frey's initial shot rebounded off Anderson's pads and back to her stick, and her second shot found twine behind the Pronghorn netminder to put the guests up a goal early.
The remainder of the period was a back-and-forth affair, with teams exchanging chances throughout. Both goaltenders made excellent saves to keep their teams in their respective positions, and Lethbridge held the shots-on-goal lead with 14 shots to Calgary's 11.
Period two was a much livelier affair, as both sides scored two goals in the frame – in the end, not affecting any change in the one-goal Calgary lead.
Off a Kyra Grieg faceoff win, Ally Borrow got the puck to Tricia Van Vaerenbergh, who cycled it back and carried it in behind Roberts. As she skated behind the net, Borrow backhanded it back to Van Vaerenbrgh who had all of an open net to bury it in as Roberts was sliding over.
Coming out of a battle at the near-side goal line, Lethbridge's Tallon Stephenson came out of the scrum with the puck, getting it over to a free Kianna Dietz. Dietz managed to glide in front of the Calgary net and tuck the puck in behind Roberts to give her side their first lead of the game.
Despite giving up their lead, the Dinos were not done scoring. The Dinos drew even with a power play marker as Chelsea Court was credited with her first of the season to tie the game at two.
Just past the halfway point of the game on a failed Pronghorn break-out attempt, a quick Dinos passing play through Michalenko, Sara Craven, and Elizabeth Lang led to a converted scoring opportunity for Lang as Anderson attempted to make a desperation save.
Lang's goal restored her team's one goal lead heading into the final frame, but it was the Pronghorns who held the shots-on-goal lead after 40 minutes by a wide margin on a tally of 30 – 20.
Lethbridge came out firing early in the third period, as Katelyn Breitkreuz forced possession in the offensive zone. Seeing there was an opportunity, Breitkreuz gave the puck to Ashlee Hodge-Hirschfield who backhanded it to Sage Sansregret in an open lane. Sansregret's shot found space underneath the glove of Roberts to tie the game up at three.
Sansregret's marker was the only one of the third period despite a massive effort from the Calgary squad, tallying 17 shots to Lethbridge's 4, eventually forcing this game into overtime.
The first overtime period saw Lethbridge kill off the remaining seconds from their late regulation penalty, but no exceptional chances were exchanged between the varsity clubs.
Three-on-three overtime furthered the deadlock between the two teams, but the Pronghorns managed to get a couple of quality game-ending chances yet remained unable to convert.
Round one of the shootout saw Lang and Dietz take the opening shots for their teams respectively. Lang's attempt sailed up and over Anderson, while Dietz pulled off the "no-move" move to put the puck past Roberts.
All three of the next shooters – Calgary's Frey, Lethbridge's Borrow, and Calgary's Brooke Dennett – were stopped on their attempts, with Anderson making the final save on Dennet to win the game for the Pronghorns.
With the much-needed two-point win, the Pronghorns improve to 6-6-1-1 (21 pts) on the season, staying in the hunt for playoff positioning. Calgary's single point effort (8-4-1-1, 27 pts) moves them ahead of the UBC Thunderbirds (7-3-1-3) for top spot in the Canada West conference.
The Pronghorns are back in action next weekend as they take on the University of Manitoba Bisons at the Wayne Flemming Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Dinos will close out the first semester of conference action on the road as well, heading to Regina to face the Cougars.
