VANCOUVER - The Alberta Golden Bears took advantage of their opportunities in a 6-2 defeat of the UBC Thunderbirds with a lucky bounce opening the floodgates as the visitors scored five unanswered to best the T-Birds on Friday night in Vancouver.
Alberta came into Friday night's game at the Doug Mitchell Winter Sports Centre with the best record in Canada West, and ranked no. 2 in the CIS. But the Thunderbirds got on the scoreboard first and looked like the better team until late in the second period, when the Bears got a tying goal off an unlucky bounce.
That goal came when Golden Bears forward, Ian McDonald, threw the puck in front of the UBC net, where it deflected off the a T-Bird defenceman to tie the game 2-2 and it was all Alberta from then on.
UBC head coach, Milan Dragicevic, thought, despite that bad break, his team should have converted earlier to build on their lead.
“I don't know if [the tying goal] was the turning point. How many chances did we get right in the slot to make it 3-1?” questioned Dragicevic. “We had a ton of chances and we have to finish them."
UBC was never able to regain the poise and intensity they showed through the first 35 minutes, and Alberta stole the momentum by capitalizing on the power play with Eric Hunter putting the Bears ahead 3-2. Ian McDonald's tape-to-tape, cross-ice pass to Hunter for a one-timer held up as the game winner.
“We took some bad penalties and they capitalized,” said Dragicevic. “They have a strong power play and we gave them a lot of opportunities”
Alberta continued to pad their lead as the T-Birds gave up three third period goals, including a second power play marker from Hunter.
The Thunderbirds controlled the play in the early going out shooting Alberta 17-8 in the first 20 minutes.
Dalton Pajak opened the scoring for the 'Birds less than five minutes in. Driving hard to the net, he gathered a loose puck and beat Real Cyr in close which was an uncommon sight on Friday as Cyr made 36 stops in the win.
The Bears responded less than a minute later on a goal from Dale Mahovsky. The T-Birds countered, staking themselves to a lead in the final minute of the first period. A barrage of shots were fired at Cyr, with
Justin McCrae burying a second rebound following a scramble at the top of the crease.
Dragicevic lamented the loss, frustrated by what he saw as an incomplete effort.
“We've got to play for sixty minutes,” said Dragicevic. “We executed the game plan perfectly for a little more than half the game and they were on their heels. But we can't just outplay a team for half the game. We didn't score when we had our opportunities and that was it. That was the game.”
The Thunderbirds have a shot at redemption Saturday, when they face the Golden Bears with puck drop schedule for 7:30 p.m.
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