Vikings win physical battle to shade Griffins 3-2

Zack Dean, For MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – The UAlberta-Augustana Vikings ground out a blue-collar victory over the MacEwan University Griffins Saturday night at the Downtown Community Arena.

The Vikings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win that saw them dominate the Griffins physically, employ an aggressive fore-check and win most of the board battles.

The constant pressure left MacEwan with little time and space to make decisions with the puck and slowly started to wear them down. The Griffins took six penalties, the majority out of frustration.

Though the Griffins spent a lot of time in the sin bin, their penalty kill was perfect on the night, killing all six Vikings' power plays.

"Our penalty kill has been good for about three or four weeks now," said MacEwan head coach Bram Stephen.

"We're pretty committed to keeping the play to the outside and keeping pressure on them."

It wasn't just the Vikings' physical play that frustrated the Griffins. Offensively, MacEwan had many quality scoring chances but the bounces didn't go their way. They hit three posts in total, including a Tyler Morrison blasted from a point in the first period.

Vikings forward Mitch McMullin opened the scoring at 14:23 into the first period with a shorthanded breakaway goal. He intercepted a pass and used his speed to cut away from the pack before picking the top left corner past goalie Marc-Olivier Daigle.

That appeared to briefly spark the Griffins as Cameron Gotaas tied the game just 59 seconds later when he found himself alone in the slot and snapped a shot on net. Vikings goalie Zach deGraves got a piece of it but the puck found its way into the back of the net.

"Sometimes you just have to be lucky," said Gotaas. "It found the top corner. I wasn't really aiming there but it found a way in."

Added Stephen: "(Gotaas) was very strong for us … he's on a bit of a roll. He's a character guy that does the right thing most of the time and he's getting rewarded right now."

The Griffins thought they tied the game when Gotaas drove the net hard and Benn stuffed the rebound into the goalie's pads. deGraves held his ground and the ref signaled that the puck did not cross the line.

The Vikings' gritty play would be rewarded minutes later when Owen Sobchak deflected his first of two past Daigle to give his team a 2-1 lead late in the period.

Sobchak and Gotaas would each score again for their respective teams. The Vikings held on to their one-goal lead despite a late push from the Griffins.

"It's always nice to get two goals but I would have liked the two points from the win too," said Gotaas.

MacEwan's leading scorer, Brett Njaa, left the game in the third period after being hit from behind by Cody Fiala.

The Griffins are now 11-4-1, while the Vikings improve to 8-6-1. The Griffins don't play again until Dec. 28 against NAIT (7 p.m.) as part of a local exhibition tournament they'll host at the Downtown Community Arena. MacEwan will also face the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Dec. 30 (7 p.m.).

ICE CHIPS … The MacEwan women's hockey team also settled for a split with their foe this weekend. A night after blanking NAIT 4-0 at home, the Griffins fell 3-1 in a visit up the road to NAIT Arena … Jessi Rampton scored MacEwan's lone goal in the second period, while NAIT got two from Carlin Boey and another from Livia Lucova … Sandy Heim made 22 saves for MacEwan, while NAIT goalie Alyssa Moyer stopped 32 of 33 … Next action for the women's team is an exhibition game on Dec. 30 vs. the University of Alberta Pandas in Provost, Alta., at 6 p.m.