CALGARY – The 2023 Canada West Final is heading to a decisive Game 3.
After the No. 1 University of Calgary Dinos scored four third-period goals to force overtime,
Josh Prokop capitalized on an odd-man rush to even the series and give the No. 5 Alberta Golden Bears a 5-4 win on Saturday night.
Following a tentative first 15 minutes, the Golden Bears managed a pair of late first-period goals by
Adam Hall and Dawson Davidson to stun the crowd of 1,101 at Father David Bauer Arena.
That momentum carried into the second period where Alberta continued to be efficient with the chances Calgary gave them. Prokop picked up his first goal of the game at the 7:16 mark of the second, while Davidson connected on the power play for his second. The fourth Alberta goal was enough to chase Dinos netminderÂ
Carl Tetachuk from the net after nine shots faced.
Nevertheless, the Dinos came out firing in the third period, withÂ
Bradley Schoonbaert breaking the shutout bid by driving to the net and burying a loose puck less than five minutes into the frame.
Moments later on the power play,Â
Zach Wytinck set upÂ
Connor Gutenberg who showed patience before wristing a shot past Alberta goaltender
Ethan Kruger to cut the deficit to two.
AÂ
Riley Stotts breakaway with less than eight minutes to play made it a one-goal game, and then with the goaltender pulled, Schoonbaert won a battle in front of the net and sent the arena into a frenzy with an improbable tying goal with just 21 seconds left in regulation.Â
However, at just 1:47 into overtime, on a three-on-one play, Prokop extinguished the comeback and extended the series.
The Canada West champion will be crowned on Sunday at Father David Bauer Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. in Game 3 of the conference final with tickets on sale now at GoDinos.com/BuyTickets.
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