GAME 1 POOL A CIS championship: No. 1 UNB survives scare, Kidd the hero

Photo credit Brian Smith

FREDERICTON, N.B. (CIS) – Defenceman Josh Kidd scored on a blast from the right point with 4.1 seconds left in regulation time as the top-seeded and tournament host UNB Varsity Reds survived a scare to defeat No. 6 Calgary 2-1 in the Pool A opener of the CIS men’s hockey championship, Thursday night, in front of a packed house of 3,760 at the University of New Brunswick’s Aitken Centre.

University Cup website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice

With the win, AUS champion UNB (1-0) takes the lead in Pool A at the Cavendish University Cup and gets to rest until Saturday when they’ll face No. 4 Western Ontario (0-0) in their second and final round-robin contest at 7:30 p.m. Atlantic, live on Rogers Sportsnet.

The Canada West finalist Dinos (0-1) will battle Western Friday at 7 p.m. Atlantic.

With only seconds remaining, UNB captain Kyle Bailey of Ponoka, Alta., won a face-off from the right circle, sending the puck over to linemate Luke Gallant of Bedford, N.S.

Gallant redirected it to Kidd, whose slapshot to the stick side left no chance for goaltender Dustin Butler, whose view was obstructed.

“It’s the biggest goal of my career,” said Kidd, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Sundridge, Ont., who was drafted in the seventh round by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings in 2007 and suited up for Manchester in the AHL before joining the Varsity Reds last season.

“It’s a play we work on in practice and it’s been pretty successful for us. Luke (Gallant) glanced up at me nicely. The puck had eyes and it was in the back of the net,” added Kidd, who had four goals in 27 regular season games and added one marker in nine AUS playoff contests.

UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall was philosophical about the close call.

“Sometimes a scare is not a bad thing. Two to one is not a bad score, especially when you get two,” said MacDougall.

“Sometimes when you’re coming off an emotional series like the one we just played against StFX, it’s hard to get back to that level,” added MacDougall, whose troops beat StFX in overtime in the fifth and final game of the AUS championship series last Friday. “Credit to Calgary. When you get to the national championship, all teams are tough to beat. They’re a very good hockey team.”

After a scoreless first period that featured few good opportunities, the teams exchanged power play goals 54 seconds apart in the first four minutes of the middle frame.

Calgary had just survived a two-man disadvantage for 91 seconds when Jordan Clendenning opened the scoring at 3:09. The third-year forward from Fredericton, who earned Game MVP honours for the winning side, beat Butler from up close after taking a pass from Nick MacNeil.

UNB rearguard Marc-Antoine Desnoyers was called for holding 34 seconds after Clendenning’s goal and the Dinos needed only 20 seconds to even the score.

Teegan Moore, a fourth-year forward from Thompson, Alta., received the puck in front of the net and beat netminder Travis Fullerton glove side.

The V-Reds, who had been outshot 10-9 in the first frame, dominated the rest of the second to hold a 12-4 edge in shots on goal in the period.

UNB continued to apply pressure in the final 20 minutes.

The V-Reds appeared to score the go-ahead goal with 6:22 left. The red light went on behind Butler’s net, but the referee quickly waived off the would-be goal as he ruled the netminder had control of the puck.

The UNB faithful were on their feet again three minutes later when Lachlan MacIntosh had the victory on his stick but Butler made a spectacular save with the left pad to extend the suspense.

Butler, who was named CIS goalie of the year prior to the championship, was solid from start to finish and was chosen Dinos player of the match following a 28-save effort.

Fullerton, of Riverview, N.B., stopped 21 shots to earn the win.

UNB capitalized on one of four power play opportunities, while Calgary converted one of two chances.

“It’s a tough one to swallow,” said second-year Calgary head coach Mark Howell, the reigning CIS coach of the year. “But we came here to win a national championship and we’re not out of this thing. We have to regroup and be ready for tomorrow.”

GAME NOTES: This marked the first-ever meeting between UNB and Calgary at the University Cup... The V-Reds and Dinos met twice last fall in pre-season action with UNB scoring a pair of lopsided victories in Calgary, 10-2 (Sept. 15) and 6-1 (Sept. 18)... 

SCORING SUMMARY

UNB 2, Calgary 1

FIRST PERIOD

(no scoring)

PENALTIES:

Jeff Lee (UNB) cross-checking, 13:53;
Tyler Swystun (CGY) interference, 19:33.

SECOND PERIOD

1. UNB Jordan Clendenning (1) (Nick MacNeil, Lachlan MacIntosh), 3:09 PP
2. CGY Teegan Moore (1) (Walker Wintoneak, Torrie Wheat), 4:03 PP

PENALTIES:

Luke Egener (CGY) double minor high-sticking, 0:04;
Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (UNB) holding, 3:43;
Aaron Richards (CGY) hooking, 5:38.

THIRD PERIOD

3. UNB Josh Kidd (1) (Luke Gallant, Kyle Bailey), 19:55

PENALTIES:

(none)

GOALS (by period)
UNB: 0-1-1:2
CGY: 0-1-0:1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
UNB: 9-12-9: 30
CGY: 10-4-8: 22

POWER PLAY:
UNB: 1-4
CGY: 1-2

GOALTENDERS
UNB – Travis Fullerton (W, 1-0, 26 shots, 25 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)
CGY – Dustin Butler (L, 0-1, 40 shots, 38 saves, 2 GA, 60:00)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
UNB: Jordan Clendenning
CGY: Dustin Butler

REFEREES: Dominick Bédard, Mark Hulshof

LINESMEN: Benoit Martineau, Jay Doiron

ATTENDANCE: 3,760 (sold out)

START: 7:18
END: 9:31
LENGTH: 2:13

POOL STANDINGS & RESULTS

Pool A standings (after 1 of 3 games)

GP W L GF GA PTS
1. UNB  1 1 0 2 1 2
2. Western 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Calgary 1 0 1 1 2 0

Pool B standings (after 1 of 3 games)

1. McGill 1 1 0 2 1 2
2. Alberta 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. StFX  1 0 1 1 2 0

Thursday, March 24
Pool B #1: McGill 2, StFX 1
Pool A #1: UNB 2, Calgary 1

Friday, March 25
14:00 Pool B #2: StFX vs. Alberta (SSN Canada webcast)     
19:00 Pool A #2: Calgary vs. Western (SSN Canada webcast)     

Saturday, March 26
14:30 Pool B #3: McGill vs. Alberta (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast) 
19:30 Pool A #3: UNB vs. Western (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast) 

Sunday, March 27
20:00 University Cup Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)

-CIS-