Huskies blank Tigers 5-0

Written by Allan April, SMU Athletics

HALIFAX, NS – The Saint Mary's Huskies snapped a five-game losing streak, defeating the Dalhousie Tigers 5-0 on Friday night at the Dauphinee Centre in Halifax. 

The Huskies got off to a strong start, peppering Tigers goaltender Alex MacDonald (Truro, NS) with 19 first period shots, and would hit the scoreboard first, as forward Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, ON) threaded a pass to a linemate Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, ON) who fired a wrist shot from the slot that beat MacDonald high to put the home team ahead 1-0, 6:25 into the first period. 

Saint Mary's nearly doubled the lead just two minutes later, as forward Ben Allison (Halifax, NS) found himself on a breakaway but was turned away by MacDonald.  

Several minutes later, the Huskies would go on the powerplay and double their lead as a shot from defenceman Connor Olson (London, ON) was deflected off a skate, onto the stick of Dafonseca, who made no mistake and beat MacDonald to extend the lead to 2-0, 11:02 into the first period. 

Just a minute and a half later, the Huskies lead would grow to three. Off a faceoff in the Tigers zone, Bradey Johnson would spin and fire towards goal, where forward Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) deflected it past MacDonald to put the home team up 3-0, 12:29 into the first period. 

The Huskies outshot the Tigers 19-7 in the first period, with the Tigers replacing MacDonald with goaltender Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) in the second period. 

The second period saw some great chances for both teams, including a wild end-to-end sequence where Tigers defender Ethan Martini (Trail, BC) thought he had scored but the puck deflected across the crossbar and out, followed up by a breakaway by Huskies forward Jake Uberti (Toronto, ON) who rang a shot off the post.  

With just 1:30 remaining in the second period, the Huskies would score again, as Nathan Dunkley's initial shot was stopped by Chenard, but Dunkley was able to gather the rebound and deposit his second goal of the night. 

The Tigers had a few good scoring opportunities, especially in the third period, but goaltender Jeremy Helvig (Kingston, ON) was solid in nets, turning away 19 shots for the shutout. 

The Huskies would add an insurance goal late, as Nathan Dunkley and defenceman Dennis Busby (Oro-Medonte, ON) skated in on a two-on-zero breakaway – it appeared Dunkley had a chance to secure the hattrick, but he made the unselfish play and set up Busby for his third goal of the season, giving Saint Mary's a 5-0 win. 

The Huskies outshot the Tigers 47-19 on the night, with Helvig making 19 saves for the shutout, while Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) turned away 26 shots in relief. 

Nathan Dunkley was named Player of the Game with two goals and one assist, while teammates Bradey Johnson (one goal, two assists), Charlie Dafonseca (one goal, one assist) and Andrew Coxhead (two assists) also recorded multi-point nights. 

The Huskies win improves their record to 4-5-0 on the campaign. They'll hit the road on Saturday, visiting the STFX X-Men (4-3-1), with puck-drop scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Charles V. Keating Centre in Antigonish, NS. 

The Tigers loss drops their record to 3-6-0 on the season. They'll also be on the road Saturday night, as they visit the Acadia Axemen (2-5-1), with puck-drop scheduled for 7 p.m. at Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, NS. 

Friday night's game had a little extra bragging rights on the line, as it was game one of the annual Lobster Trap Challenge, presented by Clearwater Seafoods. The Huskies women's hockey team will host the Tigers for game two on Saturday night, with the team with the highest combined score between the men's and women's games securing the trophy.