Dillon Johnstone scored the only goal of the shootout to give the University of Regina's men's hockey team a 3-2 win over the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday night in a Canada West game at the Sherwood Ice Sports Centre.
After the two teams went through the first two rounds of the shootout without a goal, Johnstone went glove side on UBC goalie
Francois Thuot and scored. Making his first start in the CIS, Cougar goalie Shayne Barrie shut the door on UBC's
Tyler Ruel to seal the win.
UBC, which outshot Regina by a narrow 26-25 margin during regulation, falls to 1-1-0 with the loss. The Cougars improve to 1-3-0 on the season.
The teams played a scoreless first period, with the best chance coming late in the frame. Regina's Blair Stengler batted a puck out of midair past Thuot, but the goal was disallowed due to a high stick.
Carter Smith opened the scoring on the power play just under four minutes into the second. Smith took a drop pass from Tanner Shultz, walked into the slot, and snapped a shot through Thuot's legs to notch his first Canada West goal.
UBC tied up the game midway through the frame when
Craig Lineker fired a shot from the left point that evaded Regina's Shayne Barrie.
The Cougars answered almost immediately, as second-year defenceman Ryan Bender scored a strange one. Bender fired a seemingly harmless slap shot from the left point that was going wide, but it hit a UBC player in the upper chest and deflected into the back of the net. The goal was Bender's first in the regular season as a Cougar.
Justin McCrae scored the final goal of regulation on the power play early in the third period, tying the game at one as UBC pressed for the winner but couldn't find another goal in the third.
In overtime, the Cougars outshot UBC 4-2 but neither team was able to end the game before it went to the shootout.
Barrie made 24 saves in regulation and stopped all three UBC shooters, while Thuot stopped 23 Regina shots.
The T-Birds open their home schedule next weekend as they welcome the Manitoba Bisons to the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
