Griffins fall in a shootout 4-3 after being outworked by hungry Cougars
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | Regina |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 0 for 5 | 2 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 4 (8) | 6 (12) |
| Shots on Goal | 32 | 39 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
REGINA, Sask. – After dominating the overtime session without scoring, the Griffins men's hockey team scored first in the shootout.
Looking like they were on their way, the Griffins instead pulled a defeat out of the jaws of victory as Regina scored on their third and final chance of the shootout to stay alive and later won it in the ninth round to score a 4-3 victory – their first of the 2025-26 season.
"I thought they played quite well," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey. "We got outplayed, if I'm being honest. They worked harder than we did, won more battles, took care of more pucks than we did and it just looked like they wanted it more.
"Tomorrow we need to be a hungry team looking to redeem ourselves."
With the result, the Griffins fell to 4-5-2, while the Cougars improved to 1-8-0.
Fresh off winning MacEwan Athletics' October Sandman Signature Downtown Edmonton Player of the Month as the top Griffins student-athlete across all sports, goaltender Eric Ward was again dynamite for the Griffins, stopping 36 of 39 shots.
He also stopped the first two Regina shootout attempts and had a chance to deliver victory in Round 3 after Kadyn Chabot scored in Round 1 for MacEwan, but Jackson Doucet beat him five-hole to extend the proceedings.
Kadyn Chabot scored on the @MacEwanGriffins' first attempt of the shootout with a filthy move, but they never found a way to get another one, falling 4-3 to @ReginaCougars in the ninth round of the skills comp tiebreaker. On to tomorrow's rematch.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/N5ZDuunZXK
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 8, 2025
Ward then traded saves for five rounds with Regina counterpart Damon Cunningham before Jaron Desnoyers deked him out to win it for the Cougars in Round 9.
"I thought Ward was pretty good for us – gave us a chance to win," said Dailey. "We just left it up to chance. We had stretches where we were OK, stretches where we got outplayed.
"Something we talked about as a group is trying to find some consistency and until we find that, we're going to find ourselves in games of chances. We're going to win some, we're going to lose some."
Regina opened the scoring 9:00 into the contest when Doucet beat Ward on the powerplay.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 8, 2025
Myles Gauld finishes off a great down-low 2-on-0 pass from Liam Hughes to get the @MacEwanGriffins on the board in the first period!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/uIGaKpnDIm
MacEwan pulled even before the first was done, though, as both Liam Hughes and Myles Gauld found themselves alone down low after a turnover with the former feeding the latter for a tap-in.
Doucet restored Regina's lead 4:52 into the second period before MacEwan finally earned their first lead of the contest early in the third, scoring twice in a span of two-and-a-half minutes.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 8, 2025
Deft tip from Caden Cabana gets this game back even for @MacEwanGriffins at @ReginaCougars!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/5m7zloE1wV
Tyson Kowaluk just threw a puck at the net out of a battle along the boards and Caden Cabana deftly tipped it past Cunningham for the tying goal 4:54 into the third.
Then, Hughes and Gauld went to work again, this time with the latter feeding the former for a snipe at 7:24.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 8, 2025
This duo right here.
Myles Gauld returns the favour, setting up Liam Hughes for the @MacEwanGriffins' third goal of the game.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/0v8NwZGLV9
Both finished +3 on the night, while Gauld broke a program record for the most shots by a Griffins rookie in a Canada West game with eight. That also ties the program record by anyone as David Kope had eight shots in a 2022 contest.
"I thought offensively, they did quite a great job," said Dailey. "They had some chemistry and some play. It was good to see those guys producing for us. Hopefully that continues because with their play, it helps us win games."
Regina, however, forced overtime on Blake Heward's powerplay goal less than two minutes later.
"Again, I thought we got outplayed," said Dailey. "They looked like a team that was hungrier than us. We're excited for a chance to redeem ourselves tomorrow."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (4 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
