Box Score

Troy Hunter, Ian McNulty and Tyler Henry all found the back of the net while Andrew Hayes turned aside 41 shots between the pipes, as the University of Regina Cougars men's hockey team skated to a 3-1 win over the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night.

Craig Scott scored the lone goal for the Bisons, while Joe Caligiuri took the loss in net.

The first period saw a lot of action, but thanks to solid goaltending, no team was able to get on the board. Although the Cougars were ahead in the shot differential after the first, it was the Bisons that held the majority of the scoring chances.

To put it simply, the second period belonged to Hayes. With the Bisons outshooting Regina 16-10, Manitoba controlled the pace offensively throughout most of the period and it was Hayes who put the Cougars on the right track.

With massive saves on breakaways, 2-on-1's, and scrambles in front of the net, Hayes was tremendous in the second and the Cougars responded. Just over a minute into the period, the Cougars moved the puck into the Bisons zone where Troy Hunter found the loose puck in front to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

After the Bisons continued to struggle in finding an answer for Hayes in the second, the Cougars capitalized once again with just over two minutes left in the period. In a similar fashion as the first goal, this one came on another loose puck, but this time it was Ian McNulty who made Manitoba pay, making it 2-0 going into the third.

In the final period, the Bisons kept creating chances, but the Cougars continued to capitalize on what they could get. Just over five minutes into the third Regina was able to get on the board once again as Tyler Murray found Tyler Henry alone in front, who buried the puck into the bottom corner on a one-timer, giving the Cougars a three-goal lead.

The rest of the period saw some fairly even play, and the Bisons finally got on the board with a Craig Scott shot from behind the net that somehow managed to leak through Hayes to spoil his shutout. But it was too little too late, and the Cougars held on for the 3-1 victory.

With the win the Cougars end a five-game losing streak,  improve to 10-11-2 and gain a one-point lead on Manitoba in the Canada West standings. The Bison see their record drop to 9-11-3.

The two teams will play the second game of the weekend series tomorrow afternoon. The puck drops at 1:00 p.m. at the Wayne Flemming Arena.