Neither team knew quite what to expect, but by 7 p.m., Sunday, it was clear that the Huskies came out on top.

In their first games facing each other, the Nuway Crushing Whitehorse Huskies dispatched the visiting Kainai Braves 2-1, 16-1 in a pair of exhibition games at Takhini Arena over the weekend.

With their fifth and sixth games this season in the bag, the Huskies have cemented their place at the Coy Cup, B.C. Hockey’s Senior AA trophy tournament, which they host at the end of March.

Saturday’s game one was a tight matchup, going scoreless for two periods. Kevin Petovello scored first for the Huskies, 4:41 into the third frame.

For the last minute, the Braves pulled goalie Tyler Cutknife for an extra attacker.

The move paid off as Ian Creighton got one past the Huskies’ Jon Olthuis to tie up the game and force overtime with eight seconds to go.

But the Huskies didn’t need much time to win as Rob Warner scored the game-winner 1:03 into overtime.

“I think we were just a little too gassed out there at the end,” said Braves assistant manager and player Jeremy Weasel Moccasin after the first game. “They surprised a lot of us. A lot of the boys out there after the first period were like, ‘oh man, we gotta get going.’”

Any ambitions of keeping up with the Huskies during game 2 were quickly erased as Kevin Petovello got the Huskies on the board early and unassisted in the first period.

The flow of goals couldn’t be turned off. Petovello had four, while Kane Dawe and Derek Klassen each registered a hat trick, Rob Stuckey had two, and Simon Nugent, Andrew Pettitt, Tyrell Hope and Ted Stephens all scored one apiece to lift the Huskies 16-1 over the Braves.

The Braves only goal game from Creighton 5:48 into the second period.

The Huskies’ 16 goals is the most the team has scored in a game during their three seasons in the B.C. Senior AA league.

Braves goalie Tyler Cutknife, who didn’t start Sunday after being too sore from Saturday’s game said that he saw a different team playing Sunday.

“There was just two different teams I thought from last night to tonight,” he said following the team’s loss Sunday. “It just wasn’t there at all today. I don’t know if it was from being tired or what, it was just totally different tonight than it was from last night.”

Cutknife went in for Dalen Mistaken Chief after the first frame’s five goals, but said he was too sore to stay in net for the remainder of the game.

“We knew those guys weren’t quite as ready today as they were yesterday,” said Huskies captain Derek Klassen, who scored a hat trick in game two. “I think just getting a few early helped and then it kind of went off from there.

“Their goalie played pretty hot yesterday. I think we had a lot of great chances yesterday. We probably could have had six or seven but their goalie stood on his head and that was kind of the difference there.”

Both games were marred by penalties. Each team had 20 penalties over 121 minutes of play.

In Saturday’s game, the Huskies’ Burt Stephens had a five-minute major for fighting and a two-minute minor for roughing, while the Braves’ Curly Twigg received the same.

The fight happened in the second half of the third period and neither returned to the ice in game one.

Game two opened with a fight that saw Charles Dagostin and Ferguson Calf Robe ejected just one minute and seven seconds into the game.

“That’s not the kind of hockey we want to promote. That’s not the kind of hockey we want to play,” said coach Michael Tuton following Sunday’s blowout win. “I was really proud of my boys of the class that they showed and just their composure.”

Tuton said the team is happy to have their six games before Jan. 10 as required by B.C. Hockey to play at the Coy Cup.

“They weren’t ready to play today. Our guys were. For them it’s an exhibition game, it’s a free trip to Whitehorse,” said Tuton. “For the Huskies, we’ve got bigger plans in mind. This squad has one goal and that’s the Coy Cup in March.

“We’ve only got one thing in mind and that’s the Coy Cup and that’s to win the Coy Cup. These games don’t really help us, but it got us our games to qualify so that’s what we were after.”

The Huskies will have a rematch against the Kelowna Sparta sometime in February.

The Sparta dealt the Huskies their only loss this season during their November games.

NOTES: Goalie Jon Olthuis started in net for the Huskies and played through Saturday’s game as well as the first two periods Sunday, before Power filled in for the final period. The Huskies’ two goals against is the fewest scored against the team in its Senior AA seasons.