Huskies earn convincing playoff win against MRU Cougars

It might not have been as pristine of a game as head coach Dave Adolph would have wanted, but the University of Saskatchewan Huskies powered through to a 5-1 victory against the Mount Royal Cougars in game one of their Canada West semi-final playoff series at Merlis Belsher Place on Friday.

The coach’s reaction may surprise some who watched the dominating performance by the Dogs, especially given the fact the U of S jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 6:19 into the first frame courtesy of goals by Levi Cable and Alex Forsberg.

Still, Adolph felt coming off the bye week had his team looking “sluggish” on the ice.

“It doesn’t matter how you prepare for it, it’s going to happen,” Adolph said. “We got through the first game, that is the hard part off the bye and then we start building from there.”

There had been concerns going into game one that the Huskies would have trouble breaking past Canada West all-rookie goaltender Riley Morris, who had stopped 57 of 58 shots against the U of S in two appearances through the season — including 44 of 45 in a 1-0 double-overtime loss on February 1 in Saskatoon.

“When you let goalies get into a zone, they are hard to score on,” said Alex Forsberg, who ended up with two goals and an assist.

“We were able to get to him (Morris) early and we kept it rolling from there.”

Saskatchewan continued to dictate the pace and action of the game with their speed and sharp passing well into the second period, keeping Mount Royal in survival mode.

Goals from forward Parker Thomas and Forsberg’s second of the game notched the lead up to four.

Mount Royal’s lack of urgency and intensity translated to their game as they didn’t manage any sustained offensive pressure on the Huskies throughout the night.

The Huskies extended their lead to five in the third period thanks to Levi Cable’s second goal of the night before Mount Royal finally got on the board with a power play marker from Brad Kennedy, making it a 5-1 final.

The Huskies have a chance to close out the series Saturday night and Adolph said his team better not count their chickens before they hatch.

“It is never over, they scored the last goal (so) maybe they have a little life,” he said. “Second game is the hardest one and it is usually the pivotal one. We need to get a good start.”

Game two between the Huskies and the Mount Royal Cougars takes place Saturday night in Saskatoon at Merlis Belsher Place. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.