Box Score
CALGARY –  We will see you on Sunday for game three.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears came up huge on Saturday while facing elimination, crushing the Mount Royal University Cougars 6-0 at Flames Community Arenas.

Each team made one lineup adjustment for game two. Alberta's captain Josh Prokop was given the go-ahead to play, swapping out Tyson Laventure. MRU opted to scratch Dawson Milliken in favour of veteran winger Zafir Rawji.

The Golden Bears were keen on taking control early in the game. Canada West regular season goal leader Sean Tschigerl got his first of the playoffs, pouncing on a rebound after Shane Farkas stopped Connor McClennon's initial shot.

62 seconds later, Alberta got their second marker off another rebound. This time it was Prokop's shot that was collected by Adam Hall on the doorstep and shoved past a sprawled-out Farkas.

Less than five minutes into game two, Alberta was in complete domination.

"[Alberta] came out relentless," said MRU head coach Bert Gilling. "They had us on our heels right from the start. We just didn't respond to it positively at all."

Things went from bad to worse when Clay Hanus was called for a kneeing minor, sending an already blazing hot Golden Bear group. 

On the ensuing man advantage, the Cougars suffered another defensive lapse. Jakin Smallwood was left all alone in front, allowing McClennon to slide a pass and Smallwood shot it through Farkas' five-hole. The helper was McClennon's league-leading seventh point of the postseason. 

Looking like a complete shell of themselves, Mount Royal called a timeout to calm their nerves.

Although the Cougars held the Golden Bears off the scoresheet until the end of the period, MRU would need a big turnaround to play themselves back into this one. 

While MRU was on their first powerplay of the game, Clay Hanus rifled a shot that beat Alberta goalie Tyler Palmer but not the red-painted iron behind him. Hanus' shot off the post was the Cougars' closest chance to getting on the board, despite playing a much better period than the opening 20 minutes. 

"We just never gave ourselves a chance to claw back in the game. No powerplay goal here; or maybe a puck off a shin pad. We didn't have anything. We didn't get any of those breaks and bounces but you still have to earn those in playoff games," said Gilling.

On the other hand, the Golden Bears made the most of their chances. After the Cougars failed to convert on their second powerplay of the period, Alberta second-year winger Alex Thacker went top shelf to make it 4-0.

Riley Sims entered the game in relief of Farkas to start the third period.

Thacker tallied his second goal of the night partway through the third. Less than two minutes later, Brett Hyland notched his first goal of the series to make it 6-0 for the Golden Bears.

Frustrations boiled over in the final minutes of the period as the MRU bench was in disbelief of the game they were in. 

Tyler Palmer recorded his first career Canada West playoff shutout, stopping all 33 shots he faced.

Alberta will hope they can carry this momentum into the deciding game three and the Cougars will have to move past the tough defeat quickly. 

"We've been in some tough situations and we've responded well before," said Gilling on preparing for Sunday's game three. "We have to flush it, reset and come ready to play tomorrow."

Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. on Sunday at Flames Community Arenas.