A two-game sweep of the Manitoba Bisons has propelled the Regina Cougars into second place in the Great Plains Division of Canada West Hockey, but by the slimmest of margins. With 4-2 and 3-2 (OT) wins on home ice on Friday-Saturday, November 24th-25th, the Cougars improved their record to 6-7-3. The 15 points places Regina two points behind the division leading Saskatchewan Huskies, who had the bye in the conference schedule this past week, and puts them equal with the Bisons, who are 7-8-1. However, Regina holds the advantage in the tie-breaker with Manitoba, holding the series leads between the team with three wins in four games against the Bisons.
The other two series played on the weekend saw the second ranked Alberta Golden Bears sweep UBC with back-to-back road wins, defeating the Thunderbirds 5-1 and 8-2 at the Burnaby Winter Club. The Lethbridge Pronghorns and Calgary Dinos split their home-and-home series as the provincial rivals earned wins on home ice. The series opener saw Lethbridge defeat Calgary 4-3 in an overtime shootout, while the Dinos rebounded with a 6-2 victory at Father David Bauer Olympic Arena on Saturday.
Jason Weitzel gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead on Friday, scoring twice in the first period. Weitzel, who leads Canada West Hockey with 12 goals, opened the scoring at the three minute mark and doubled the Cougars lead at 11:22. Both goals were assisted by Shayne Emmons, who was returning to the lineup for the first time since being injured on October 14th, and Caine Pearpoint.
Manitoba rallied in the second period, tying the score before the six-minute mark. Jon Cara put the Bisons on the scoreboard at 1:39 and Aaron Starr tied the game with a powerplay tally at 5:18. The score remained tied until the third period when Jordan McGillivray scored twice in a span of 1:12. McGillivrays first conference goal of the season at 6:42 proved to be the game winner and the Cougar freshman added an insurance goal on the powerplay at 8:54.
Pearpoint was the hero for Regina on Saturday, scoring the deciding goal with only two seconds remaining in overtime. It was Pearpoints second point of the game and fourth of the series. The sophomore left winger earned Canada West Hockey Player of the Week honors with his four point weekend.
The teams traded goals in the first period as Robin Allison opened the scoring for Manitoba with his first goal of the season at 4:12 and Shayne Emmons replied for the Cougars at 14:51. Weitzel gave Regina a 2-1 lead with his third goal of the series in the second period and Starr equaled for Manitoba with his second powerplay goal four minutes into the third period, setting the stage for overtime. Despite being outshot 4-3 in the extra session, the Cougars earned their third overtime win of the season on Pearpoints goal at 4:58.
The overtime victory was the fourth of the season for the Cougars, who lead Canada West Hockey with a total of eight overtime games, including six in conference play. Regina is 4-4 in overtime, including 3-3 in Canada West Hockey play. Five of their overtime games have gone to a shootout to decide a winner and the Cougars are 2-3 in those games.
Alberta kept its hold on first place in both the Mountain Division and combined Canada West Hockey standings with its two road wins at UBC. The four point weekend gives the Golden Bears a two point lead over Calgary. The Golden Bears and Dinos will meet head-to-head this weekend as they round out the first half of the conference schedule with a home-and-home series on December 1st and 2nd.
Freshman Jesse Gimblett scored three times to register his first career collegiate hat trick in leading the Golden Bears to a 5-1 win in the series opener versus UBC. Gimblett scored a goal in each period to pace the Alberta offence and was one of three Golden Bears to finish the game with three points. Ian McDonald scored the game winner and had two assists, while Ben Kilgour had three<