Cougars forward Matthew Brown breaks into the Huskies end.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team used every last second to win their season opening game 5-4 on Sept. 28. The victory came against this year’s newest addition to the Canada West hockey league, the Mount Royal Cougars.

Tied at 4, Huskies forward Kyle Bortis tipped teammate Michael Kaye’s pass into the Cougars net just before the third-period buzzer sounded to end the game. Following a brief officials’ meeting at centre ice, the goal was upheld, sending the Cougars to the showers with a loss in their first game in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport league.

“Everything just came together at the right time and we were fortunate that there was still time left,” Bortis said of his game-winning goal.

The Huskies started the game strong, scoring two quick goals in the opening five minutes of the match. Defenceman Garrett Thiessen potted the first goal, firing a loose rebound from the slot past Cougars goaltender Justin Cote. Then on the powerplay Brandon Herrod notched the Dogs’ second point of the night.

Mount Royal shook off the early nerves and fought their way back into the game, scoring 10 minutes into the first period with a goal from Mike Brown. Brown beat Huskies keeper Ryan Holfeld through the five-hole and put himself in the Cougars’ record books as the first goal scorer in the club’s CIS history.

The second period was dominated by the goalies, and neither side was able to put the puck in the net.

The Cougars offence quickly went back to work in the third period, scoring 30 seconds into the frame. This was matched minutes later by Huskies forward Derek Hulak’s first goal of the season. Hulak intercepted a Mount Royal pass and fired a perfectly-placed shot in the top corner of the net before Cote could react.

The Cougars notched two more goals from Bill Marshall and Tyler Eskesen to knot the game at four. It seemed the game was destined for overtime before Bortis deflected the winning goal with less than a second left on the clock.

“We got up on them early, scored two quick goals and kind of limped it home…. Luckily we scored a good goal at the end,” Huskies head coach Dave Adolph said.

The teams met for their second match at Flames Community Arena the following night.

This time the Cougars scored first, but the Dogs responded with five consecutive goals and went on to win 5-3 and sweep the Cougars on the weekend.

Mount Royal took the 1-0 lead when third-year winger Eric Galbraith roofed a wrist shot past Holfeld nine minutes into the opening frame. The Cougars looked like they would head to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play, but once again a late goal would plague the Cougars.

Huskie Jimmy Bubnick converted a Hulak pass with just seven seconds remaining in the first period to tie the score at 1-1.

In the second period, Bortis showed off his passing abilities, assisting on two goals in a 10 minute span to give the Dogs a 3-1 lead. Bortis would continue the role of playmaker in the third period, setting up Hulak’s second goal of the night before tallying his fifth assist on a power-play marker scored by Herrod. Bortis finished the weekend with seven assists and a goal for eight points in two games — enough to lead the league after the first week of play.

In the final 10 minutes the Cougars scored two more goals, but it wasn’t enough to overcome their four-goal deficit.

“It’s nice… to get a few wins under our belt, but with that being said I really don’t think we played our best hockey,” said Hulak, who scored three goals and added three assists on the weekend. “It was the first weekend and it definitely wasn’t our best effort, but we are happy to pick up the four points.”

The Huskies will have a bye week before their next match on the road against the Manitoba Bisons Oct. 12 and 13.

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Photo: Nathan Ross/The Reflector