Huskies MHKY: Dogs grab early lead and hold on to punch ticket into Canada West Championship

After a wild first and second game of this best-of-three series, Game three delivered the thrilling finish everyone anticipated. For the first time this series, Saskatchewan scored the opening two goals, which proved to be the difference in their 4-2 victory, securing a spot in the Canada West Championship for the first time since 2020.

Parker Gavlas scored the opening goal almost 12-minutes into the first period on a beautiful pass from Dawson Holt. Moments later Holt would score a highlight reel goal, pulling the puck from his forehand to backhand in tight beating Cole Schwebius and extending the Huskie lead to 2-0. Saskatchewan held the advantage on the shot clock at 10-9, something that wasn’t seen in the first two games.

UBC started the second period with a strong surge, allowing just one Huskie shot in the first 10 minutes. Shortly after the halfway mark, the Thunderbirds’ continuous pressure finally paid off thanks to their captain Chris Douglas snapping a shot under the blocker of Jordan Kooy, cutting the lead in half. UBC continued pressing for the equalizer, but Ty Prefontaine, from his defensive zone, sprung Trevor Wong on a breakaway. Wong pulled off a slick backhand move, lifting the puck over Schwebius’ glove to restore Saskatchewan’s two-goal lead. However, UBC refused to back down, as Cyle McNabb pounced on his own rebound, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with nine seconds left in the second period.

In the third period, both teams had chances back-and-forth but only one goal would matter just past the halfway mark in the period. Saskatchewan and their lethal power-play would get its sixth opportunity of the evening where Dawson Holt sent a cross-crease, no-look pass onto the stick of Chantz Petruic to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. From that point on, the Huskies locked it down defensively until the final seconds ticked away in a thrilling three-game series.

With the victory, Saskatchewan not only punched their ticket into next weekend’s Canada West Championship against Mount Royal, but they can book their ticket to Ottawa for this year’s U-SPORTS Men’s Hockey Championships. Below is a full game summary courtasey of Canada West and postgame comments from head coach Brandin Cote, plus forwards Chantz Petruic and Dawson Holt.

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UBC 2 at Saskatchewan 4 – Status: Final
Sunday, March 2, 2025 – Merlis Belsher Place

UBC 0 2 0 – 2
Saskatchewan 2 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Saskatchewan, Gavlas 1 (Holt, Petruic), 11:57. 2, Saskatchewan, Holt 1 (Pillar, Kinniburgh), 14:52. Penalties-Rask Ubc (hooking), 18:03.

2nd Period-3, UBC, Douglas 1 (Lee), 11:31. 4, Saskatchewan, Wong 1 (Prefontaine), 16:28. 5, UBC, McNabb 1 19:50. Penalties-Kindree Ubc (hooking), 3:10.

3rd Period-6, Saskatchewan, Petruic 3 (Holt, Loschiavo), 12:49 (PP). Penalties-Latimer Ubc (tripping), 3:29; Prefontaine Ssk (holding), 5:58; Mutala Ubc (high sticking (4 min.)), 7:01; Kindree Ubc (charging), 12:23.

Shots on Goal-UBC 9-15-11-35. Saskatchewan 10-6-9-25.
Power Play Opportunities-UBC 0 / 1; Saskatchewan 1 / 6.
Goalies-UBC, Schwebius (25 shots-21 saves). Saskatchewan, Kooy (35 shots-33 saves).
A-2,605
Referees-Brayden Arcand, Bryce Sebastian.
Linesmen-Riley Carriere, Tanner McGregor.

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Postgame Media Scrum with Huskies head coach Brandin Cote: