Carter Chorney rips home MacEwan's first goal of the game in the opening frame on Friday (James Maclennan photo).
Carter Chorney rips home MacEwan's first goal of the game in the opening frame on Friday (James Maclennan photo).
November 22, 2025

Griffins match U SPORTS No. 6 Huskies 5-on-5, but faltering special teams play holds them back

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Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Dead even five-on-five, the separation between Saskatchewan Huskies – 6-3 winners over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday – came on the visitors' deadly powerplay.

Unrewarded for a generally disciplined effort, the Griffins only sat for three penalties worth a total of six minutes in the contest, but quality, not quantity was the name of the game for Saskatchewan, who went 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

"You have it right on," said Griffins men's hockey head coach Zack Dailey. "Their special teams were better than ours tonight. I didn't think our powerplay was very good. Penalty kill missed a few blocks there, so I thought that was the difference. 

"Overall, we played pretty well. We didn't like our first period, but I thought our response was pretty good. The second period was OK and then just not enough push in the third there. Only giving up 25 shots against those guys, you're doing something right, so there's definitely some positives to take away going into tomorrow, but we're going to have to do some video here and figure out a better plan for our special teams."

With the result, the Griffins drop to 6-7-2, while Saskatchewan improves to 7-3-1.

Canada West goal scoring leader Chantz Petruic was the star of the contest, finishing with five points (three goals and two assists). Two of his helpers set up powerplay goals for Conner Roulette and Landon Kosior that put the Griffins away.

MacEwan's powerplay, in contrast, went 0-for-3 and was mostly defined by Huskies' blocked shots.

"I thought five on five, we did a lot of good things," said Dailey. "I thought our O-zone play was OK, I thought our D-zone coverage was pretty good at times. I just think our special teams really need to get cleaned up here. 

"Our powerplay needs to generate momentum and energy for our group and I thought tonight they did the opposite. They're more than capable of being good. Powerplay is on me, creating a better plan for them, and then it's on them executing that plan."

Liam Keeler opened the scoring for Saskatchewan just 1:14 into the game when he tapped a rebound into the open net after Logan Bairos' point shot spilled out to the back side.

Petriuc made it 2-0 Huskies 7:46 into the first period when his short side point shot eluded Zack Onyskiw.

Carter Chorney got the Griffins into the game, though, with a huge goal just 32 seconds later as he stepped into a nasty shot from the ringette line that beat Saskatchewan starter Bryan Thomson cleanly.

The Griffins were a different team in the second period, outshooting the Huskies 10-5 and jumping out to a 3-2 lead on two quick early goals.

After Keaton Dowhaniuk's point shot sat in traffic in front of Thomson, Liam Hughes poked at it and the puck dribbled across the line to knot the score.

Then Caden Cabana won an offensive zone faceoff back to Myles Gauld who simply sifted a low backhander through a maze of bodies that also went through Thomson's five-hole.

The moxie of this Griffins team was showing again as they landed a solid punch against the U SPORTS No. 6 Huskies a week after they beat U SPORTS No. 3 UBC in the same barn.

"Our group has shown that when we play, it doesn't matter who we play, we can be competitive," said Dailey. "Just too spotty, in my opinion, of when we're doing that. There's a lot of excuses to use, but we're not going to use any of those. We're here and we need to be dialed in when we're here. We just weren't mentally sharp enough tonight."

That was the only lead the Griffins would enjoy in the contest as Saskatchewan tied it up at 16:10 of the second period on a scintillating play started by Chase Bertholet, who lofted a head high stretch pass from his own end that Petruic caught at the far blueline, went in on a breakaway and beat Onyskiw with a snipe.

Roulette's game-winner came on a tic-tac-toe 5-on-3 passing play with Petruic and Kosior that he finished off with a laser from the ringette line.

Kosior netted the insurance marker at 10:09 of the third on a powerplay point blast that sent the water bottle flying.

Finally, Petruic completed the hat trick by scoring an empty-netter with 32 seconds left.

Onyskiw finished with 19 saves, while Thomson stopped 22 for Saskatchewan.

EBUG Dylan Kushneryk faces shots in warm-up (James Maclennan photo).

Due to injuries to two of their three goaltenders, the Griffins were forced to use an EBUG as their backup goaltender in the contest, bringing in former Edmonton Royals Junior B tendy Dylan Kushneryk, who was signed earlier this week and got in one practice with the team on Thursday.

"It's definitely exciting," said Kushneryk, an SSAC and Vimy Ridge Academy product in his youth – where he knows Dailey from. "I've got a relationship with Dailey, so it's always good getting a call from him. 

"It's really good getting to know the guys and getting on the ice on Thursday there. Warmups felt good. It was a good time hanging out with the boys."

The teams will meet again on Saturday (5 p.m.), following back-to-back Griffins Hockey Alumni Games (1:15 p.m. women and 2:45 p.m. men).