Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Coming as close as anyone has to cooling off the red-hot Saskatchewan Huskies – who haven't lost since November – the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team took the U SPORTS No. 2-ranked team to overtime before falling 5-4 on Saturday night.
Before Chase Bertholet scored to win it for Saskatchewan with 1:07 left in OT, Ethan Sundar was robbed on the doorstep by Jordan Kooy after tipping Logan Dowhaniuk's shot.
That's how close MacEwan came to ending the Huskies' winning streak, which was stretched to nine in a row with the victory.
Although the Huskies outshot them 35-28 in the contest, the Griffins would have been every bit deserving had they come out on the winning side.
"Loved the effort," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey. "I just like that we rode waves. Sometimes they were the better team, sometimes we were the better team. Our effort didn't change.
"Obviously, the result wasn't what we wanted, but we did get a point. If we play that way down the stretch here, I think we'll like where we're at at the end of it."
The point pushes the Griffins to 9-12-3 on the season, which is now five points better than Manitoba (7-15-2) – who won again at Regina – for the third and final playoff spot in the Canada West East Division. Both teams have four games left.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, survived a scare from the Griffins and improved to 20-4-0 – level on points with Alberta (20-6-0) for top spot in the East Division, but they have four games left and the Golden Bears only have two.
Key to the Griffins' play in Saturday's game was they didn't make as many mistakes as they did in Friday's 3-1 loss to the Huskies where they barely left their own end in the third period.
"I thought that we managed the puck much better than normal," said Dailey. "We didn't turn the puck over a lot. I just liked in the third period (today) – yesterday it didn't go our way, but it didn't discourage us. We actually pushed and outshot them in the third period, so that part was really great to see. We found some energy we didn't have yesterday. I'm just happy with the way we played."
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 2, 2025
Liam Hughes tips Vincent Scott's shot past Jordan Kooy before he could get settled after playing the puck and the @MacEwanGriffins are up 1-0 on @HuskieMHKY!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/30Rhw7mtjL
MacEwan went up 1-0 6:42 into the contest, when Kooy went behind his net and rimmed a puck that was stolen by Vincent Scott, who sent it quickly on net before the goaltender got set and Liam Hughes tipped it past him.
Gunner Kinniburgh levelled the score at 14:20 when his shot inadvertently tipped off Sean Comrie and past Griffins goaltender Carson Ironside.
But Comrie got one back before the first period was out when he sifted a shot through heavy traffic in front and it changed direction and dribbled across the line.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 2, 2025
Captain Sean Comrie sifts a point shot through traffic in front and it dribbles across the line to give @MacEwanGriffins a 2-1 lead over @HuskieMHKY after 20 minutes!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/DyFlzVKZRg
With the Huskies beginning to push in the second period, the Griffins managed to kill off a powerplay, but just couldn't fully settle, remaining hemmed in before Keaton Sorensen struck to tie the score at 6:41 as his shot went through traffic and past Ironside.
Dawson Holt then scored on a powerplay one-timer to put Saskatchewan out front at 13:46.
But just over a minute later, Sundar showed why he's having such a terrific rookie season. The Spruce Grove Saints product spun with the puck in his own zone to elude a Huskies forward, then proceeded to go through the entire Saskatchewan team before sniping one short side on Kooy to tie the score.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 2, 2025
Ethan Sundar goes coast to coast before a short-side snipe ties this one up 3-3 between @MacEwanGriffins and @HuskieMHKY!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/JIcLqKZOxE
"That kid is extremely skilled," said Dailey. "He's still working on when and where to use that, but that's the game-breaking ability that he has. Obviously, we're really invested and willing to work with him and help him out. He's been a great player for us down the stretch and has been leading the way offensively for us."
Then their scoring leader Marc Pasemko struck to put MacEwan ahead 4-3 just 34 seconds into the third period, perfecting a high tip on a point shot by Loeden Schaufler.
"High tips are something I practise," he said after scoring his team-leading 11th goal of the season. "I just saw Sunny (Sundar) cut back and throw it to the point. I found some ice there and Schaufs had a good shot.
"If the goalie can see the puck, he's going to save it, but if you can maybe get a stick on it, it's going to fool him. I just tried to get anything I could on it."
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) February 2, 2025
Marc Pasemko with the high-slot tip on Loeden Schaufler's shot gives the @MacEwanGriffins a 4-3 lead over @HuskieMHKY just seconds into the third period!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/esGtjrtSfO
Raphael Pelletier tied the game on the powerplay with 10:01 left to send the game to overtime.
The two man advantage goals pushed the Huskies' best power-play percentage in Canada West's modern era back up to 33.6 per cent.
Five-on-five, the Griffins outscored them 4-3 and proved they can play with anybody in the conference.
"Tonight, I think we pushed a lot harder than they did and took it to them," said Pasemko. "I think we had them on their heels. Even though we didn't get the right result, it's a good showing for us, knowing we can dominate teams like this and that we are right there with the top teams in the conference.
"It's a little disappointing, but we took it to them in the third, and I thought we had a good overtime, and just didn't get the right result."
Ironside made 30 saves for MacEwan, while Kooy stopped 24 for Saskatchewan.
Next up for the Griffins is a home-and-home series vs. the Calgary Dinos on Feb. 7-8. The latter is their final home regular season game (Saturday, 5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena).
