Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Exceptional special teams play carried the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team to a 4-2 victory over the Regina Cougars on Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena.
With the game tied 2-2, Vincent Scott wired a powerplay shot through traffic with 3:52 remaining to lift the Griffins to victory on a night they were outplayed 5-on-5.
"That's something we've talked about all season with our powerplay being able to bail us out of situations," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey. "This is the first time that I think that they've done that. I'm really happy with them. They executed. They did exactly what they were supposed to do. Really good traffic and then Vinny made a perfect shot.
"So, really happy with those guys. I think our special teams bailed us out of a game where we got outplayed."
With the result, the Griffins improved to 7-5-1, dropping the Cougars to 1-12-0.
MacEwan's powerplay went 2-for-6, a third goal was scored 4-on-4 two seconds before a man advantage began, and Griffins penalty killers were a perfect 3-for-3.
M��| RECAP
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) November 23, 2024
Vincent Scott scored the game-winner on a late third period power play as @GriffinsMHKY's special teams made the difference in a 4-2 victory over the @ReginaCougars.#GriffNation
STORY➡️https://t.co/h2wbj9YZsX pic.twitter.com/TrQ4SOyne5
A turning point sequence in the game came in the first period when Regina strung three-straight powerplays together on back-to-back-to-back penalties by Logan Dowhaniuk, Caden Cabana and Scott, but were denied on all three.
But MacEwan needed just five seconds after Regina's first penalty when Carson Whyte was whistled for high sticking at 15:06. Liam Hughes potted the rebound on Dowhaniuk's point shot before Scott even finished his penalty, so it didn't count as a powerplay goal.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 23, 2024
Liam Hughes comes up huge, scoring the @MacEwanGriffins' first goal of the game, potting a rebound off Logan Dowhaniuk's point shot!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/eEbF87iaQH
Just over two minutes later, with the Griffins enjoying a 5-on-3 powerplay, captain Sean Comrie wired a one-timer slapshot on Samuel Simard's pass past Adam Evanoff for a 2-0 lead.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 23, 2024
It's 2-0 @MacEwanGriffins after one as captain Sean Comrie scores on a 5-on-3 powerplay off a pass from Sam Simard with a sizzling one-timer.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/Mp9q8HgOSc
"That could have went south in a hurry, so that's big by our guysm," said Dailey. "(Assistant coach) Ryan Benn has done a great job giving our guys structure and changing a few things when (the penalty kill) wasn't working.
"Then, really happy our powerplay was able to get one. It really gave us the momentum in a strange period filled with penalties. It was a bit of a weird game, not a lot of flow to it. When you're not at your best, sometimes you have to find a way and I think we did that tonight."
Regina carried much of the play in the second period and finally got on the board when Eric Pearce hit Paycen Bjorklund on a cross-crease back door pass and he made no mistake.
With the Cougars still on their horse, pressing for the equalizer early in the third, Blake Heward's initial shot was stopped by Brett Epp, before the MacEwan goaltender also stopped Matt Culling's rebound, too, only to have the misfortune of the puck going off traffic in front and back past him.
The save by Brett Epp!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 23, 2024
Making his first start since Oct. 5 after recovering from an injury, the veteran finishes with 25 saves and a win!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/79TljpHN7A
Unlucky bounce, to say the least, but Epp remained locked in and made a huge save on Regina's Turner McMillan after the puck squirted into the slot out of traffic on a broken play as he did the splits to deny the Regina forward on the back post.
"He was unbelievable," said Scott. "I thought he won us the game, too. Special teams and Epper in the back. So many Grade A chances that he stopped for us. He was huge for us tonight."
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 23, 2024
Vincent Scott gets the winner with 3:52 left!@MacEwanGriffins defeat @ReginaCougars 4-2 and improve to 7-5-1 in the @CanadaWest standings.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/py8P6vj8ym
That allowed MacEwan's powerplay a chance to go back to work and Scott sifted a shot from the high slot through a screen provided by Caden Cabana for the game-winner.
"Once they tied it up, we really started to push back and I think it was inevitable until we got it," he said. "Great screen in front. I tried that same shot in the first period and missed the net, so I didn't want to miss again. It was a great screen, it was a good play."
Spencer McLean hit an empty net with 25 seconds left for the final result.
Evanoff made 24 saves for the Cougars, while Epp stopped 26 for MacEwan in his first start since Oct. 5 after recovering from an injury.
"He's been itching to play," said Dailey. "I think he was questionable about being ready to play last week and we held him out just to be safe. Guys don't like to be held out of games. They feel like they can play. He was very motivated today and I thought he had a really great effort. It's great to have him back."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
