Box Score SASKATOON, SASK. – Game one goes to the Dogs.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies overcame an early 3-0 Mount Royal University lead to defeat the Cougars 6-3 in game one of the Canada West Hockey Men's Hockey Championship.

The Cougars were all over the Huskies right from the puck drop.

Mount Royal captain Kyle Walker wasted no time giving his team the lead. Just 11 seconds into the contest, Walker found the puck in the high slot and fired a shot past the pad of Saskatchewan netminder Roddy Ross.

Less than three minutes later, Mount Royal added another. Defenceman Layton Feist jumped into the Cougars' rush and sent a pass to Josh Tarzwell who was parked on the doorstep of the crease. Just as he has done all season long, Tarzwell finished the play by tapping the puck into the net to make it 2-0 early in the first.

After the Huskies had a high-danger opportunity denied by MRU, Justin Lies scored to make it 3-0 with just over 10 minutes gone in the first. The Cougars' dominance had silenced a sold-out Merlis Belsher Place.  

It was a dream start to their first-ever Canada West Championship for Mount Royal. They took their dominant lead into the first intermission.

The Cougars kept most of the momentum until the Huskies finally lit the lamp with 5:17 left in the second. Landon Kosior one-timed a shot from the circle into an open net after MRU goalie Shane Farkas appeared to lose track of the puck.

Former Mount Royal forward Ethan Regnier cut the deficit to just one less than a minute later with a sharp-angle shot that squeaked through Farkas. Regnier's marker had noticeably shifted the air in the arena.

"It put us on our heels. They responded when we scored but we didn't when they scored," said former Saskatoon Blade and MRU rookie Jayden Wiens.

Though the crowd was once quiet, the Huskie faithful were re-engaged. 

"We let the [Huskies] back into it; we let them get momentum and we let the crowd back into it," said Justin Lies. "We got away from our game." 

In the third period, Saskatchewan reset the game by evening the score at three thanks to a goal from Carter Stebbings.

"I thought after the start, we settled in. We knew it was going to be back and forth. Then we just sort of took it over," said Huskies head coach Brandin Cote.

With nine minutes left in the game, Chase Bertholet gave the Huskies their first lead. What was once pure domination, the game had painfully slipped away from the Cougars.

Vince Loschiavo sent a dagger into MRU's hopes of tying it by adding a fifth goal. Stebbings iced the game with an empty netter.

The Cougars felt frustrated that the game got to that point and regretted letting Saskatchewan back into it.

"In the second period, it turned into too loose of a game," said MRU head coach Bert Gilling. "We started trading chances. You don't want to get into a situation with that much time left in the game and it starts evening out. Now all of a sudden, Saskatchewan is a shot away from getting momentum."

The Cougars will try to force a game three as they take the ice for a do-or-die game two on Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. MST (7 p.m. CST). Fans can stream the game live on Canada West TV – Powered by BioSteel.