Hockey Huskies take game one in Canada West final

The University of Saskatchewan men’s hockey team doubled up the University of Alberta Golden Bears 4-2 in game one of the Canada West men’s hockey final Friday at Merlis Belsher Place.

Jaimen Yakubowski scored the Huskies opening goal in front of a packed crowd of 2,583 people 2:32 into the first period, and head coach Dave Adolph thinks that was enough to push his team to victory.

“We were pretty uptight… it was a little unnerving,” he said. “We scored the first goal, and that might have have been the difference in the night.”

“I think if they would have scored the first goal, we might have been a little bit more nervous.”

Golden Bears’ Brandon Magee would even the game up a little more than 10 minutes later on a power play marker with Evan Fiala in the penalty box for cross checking.

Goals from Parker Thomas and Wyatt Johnson would extend the Huskies’ lead to 3-1 in the second period before the Golden Bears would score another power play goal as Jayden Hart pulled the game back to within a goal with 21 seconds remaining in the second period.

Both of Alberta’s goals were on the power play, as they went 2-for-4 with the man advantage. Johnson’s goal was during a 5-on-3 man advantage, as the Huskies went 1-for-6 on the power play.

“We were opportunistic, you have to do that in a clutch game,” Adolph said of the special team boost for his club.

A breakaway goal from Saskatchewan’s Carter Folk 15:58 into the third period would be all the Huskies needed to overcome their arch-rivals on Friday.

The brand of hockey was typical of most Canada West championships that seem to teeter on the line of what’s acceptable and what lands a player in the penalty box.

Johnson thinks his team did a good job to avoid taking penalties against one of the nation’s best power plan units.

“In playoff hockey, discipline is everything,” Johnson said. “We know we got to stay out of the box. Sometimes that means taking a slash, or a cross-check or a punch to the face.”

The win gives the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three final series. It is the first time Alberta lost in 2019, snapping a 15-game winning streak for the Canada West juggernauts.

Johnson and the rest of the Huskies are well aware that a win on Saturday crowns them as Canada West champions.

“Every game, every body rises in intensity. Everybody starts bearing down on pucks more and the intensity rises. We got to up our level and I’m sure they will, too.”

Game two goes 7 p.m. Saturday, with a third game taking place Sunday, if necessary.