No. 3 Dinos open new year with road win over Cougars

REGINA – Mack Stewart scored a pair in the first and Davis Fry netted the game winner in the third as the No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team earned a 3-2 win over Regina Friday night from the The Co-operators Centre.

The win moves Calgary to 16-3 on the year and maintaining their lead in the Canada West East Division heading into the home stretch. Regina drops to 2-15 under first-year head coach Trevor Keeper.

Calgary wasted little time in getting the scoring started in this one, with Mack Stewart lighting the lamp just 6:06 into the game. The Dinos capitalized on a Cougars turnover behind their own net, with Adam Kydd taking the gift of a puck and centering it right to Stewart who made no mistake for the 1-0 lead.

Stewart tallied his second of the night late in the first, wristing one over the shoulder of Damon Cunningham for his eighth of the year to make it 2-0 Dinos after one.

After a scoreless second, the Cougars made things interesting after Eric Houk put the home team on the scoreboard with a powerplay goal just over two minutes into the third to make it 2-1.

The Dinos immediately responded, as Regina native Davis Fry reestablished the two-goal lead with his third of the year. Jake Poole drove at the net and drew all the attention before feeding Fry who was wide open far post and one-timed it home for the 3-1 lead.

Regina continued to battle and once again used the man advantage to get back within one late. After pulling the goalie with over two minutes remaining, Houk perfectly set up Jackson Doucet far post to make things a little more interesting in the closing seconds. 

Calgary did what it needed to do down the stretch, as Carl Stankowski finished with 22 saves on the night to pick up his league-leading ninth win of the year.

Kydd finished the night with assists on all three goals, increasing his U SPORTS-leading season total to 30 through 19 games.

The two teams are right back at it Saturday at 4 p.m. MT.