By Troy Langstaff
Shaun Miller (Enfield, NS) had three points as the Dalhousie Tigers men's hockey team defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 4-3 at the Halifax Forum on Saturday night.
The Huskies set the tone in the early goings of the first period pinning the Tigers in their own end for the first two minutes of play. It wasn't until nearly the midway mark of the period that we saw the game's first goal. A quick snapshot from the slot off the stick of SMU's Jonathan Hampton.
Dalhousie tied the game less than two minutes later with Miller netting his first AUS goal off of a rebound in close to the Huskies net. SMU had an even quicker response to the Tigers tying marker with Hampton scoring his second of the game 36 seconds later to take the lead right back.
It looked as if we were going to be heading into the intermission with SMU up a goal but Dalhousie's Liam Peyton (Halifax, NS) had other plans. Seconds after stepping on the ice Peyton flew down the right side and fired a perfect shot under the crossbar to tie the game at 2 with 15 seconds left in the period.
The second period saw a faster Dalhousie team compared to the first. The Tigers seemed to catch the Huskies off guard resulting in a SMU penalty early into the period. On the ensuing powerplay Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) banged home his first career AUS goal to give Dalhousie their first lead of the night.
Just past the midway mark of the frame a Huskies hooking penalty 200 feet from their own end put the Tigers back on the powerplay. This time it was Matt Green (Hammonds Plains, NS) capitalizing on the man advantage with a quick wrist shot that slid five-hole on Huskies goalie Matt Welsh.
SMU led in shots 27-22 but it was the Tigers who held a 4-2 lead at the intermission.
The Huskies started the final period with 45 seconds left on a Campbell Pickard (Halifax, NS) penalty and took advantage of their remaining power play time with Mitchell Balmas scoring to quickly bring SMU within a goal.
The rest of the period featured relentless pressure from the visiting team who were looking to tie the game but Reilly Pickard (Halifax, NS) and company shut down the Huskies. The Tigers defense was highlighted by a dazzling glove save from Pickard off of a golden SMU opportunity in the high slot.
Dalhousie grinded out the 4-3 victory with a 37 save performance from Pickard. Four different Tigers found the back of the net with three of them scoring their first AUS goals.
The Huskies next test comes this Friday when they visit the undefeated UNB Reds for a 7pm puck drop.
Dalhousie will travel to Antigonish on Wednesday to take on the St.FX X-Men at 7pm.