VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds took over in the third period against the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns, scoring four goals to notch a 5-2 victory at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
BOXSCORE
Veteran forwards
Max Grassi (3rd, North Vancouver, BC) and
Marc Desloges (5th, Vancouver, BC) led the way, with Grassi racking up three assists and Desloges notching a pair of goals.
The T-Birds also got some scoring help from less likely candidates, including rookie defenceman
Jason Yee (1st, Victoria, BC) and rookie forward Marc Juneau (1st, Quebec City, PQ), each scoring their second goals of the season.
Wyatt Hamilton (3rd, Cochrane, AB) tallied the game-winning goal for UBC.
For Lethbridge, captain Dustin Moore scored early, assisted by Cass Mappin, who also scored the Pronghorns' second and final goal on a late power play in the third period. Moore logged over half of his team's total shots on goal, with 11 of the Pronghorns' 20 shots coming off their captain's stick.
“We're playing a pretty good hockey team over there and they've been our biggest rival over the past four or five years,” said UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic. “And I think it's important for us to finish off on the right note headed into the Christmas break.”
Dragicevic's club fell behind in the race for Canada West's fourth playoff spot thanks to a recent three-game losing skid, making Friday's victory all the more important. Not only have the T-Birds bumped their slump, they are back within four points of the Calgary Dinos.
Key to the win was the play of veteran forward Grassi. In the absence of sniper
Justin McCrae (3rd, Cochrane, AB), who is sidelined due to injury, Grassi is working hard to fill the void.
“We're banged up now. Our key guys are missing (including McCrae and top blueliner
Mike McGurk), but some other guys really stepped up,” commented Dragicevic. “The line of Grassi, Wasden, and Desloges really stepped up and we had some other guys score goals, too. Grassi had the puck on a string a lot tonight. His skill really showed through the neutral zone and down low off the cycle.”
Another important piece of the puzzle for UBC was goalie
Jordan White (3rd, Surrey, BC), who made some incredible stops in the first 40 minutes when the teams were neck-and-neck.
“White was very solid and gave us the opportunity to win,” said Dragicevic.
UBC get full credit for the win, but Friday's game was not without controversy.
Late in the second period, Lethbridge broke into the UBC zone. Pronghorn forward Daniel Iwanski fired a shot that appeared to beat White in the Thunderbird net before quickly bouncing out. The Pronghorns celebrated as if they had scored, but the goal judge's light stayed unlit and referee Colby Smith did not signal a goal. The play continued.
After the ensuing whistle, Lethbridge pleaded their case with Smith, who conferred with the goal judge. After a short discussion, Smith returned with a verdict of no goal and the game continued tied 1-1, much to the Pronghorns' chagrin.
The period finished in a tie, but in the first minute of the third period,
Marc Desloges deflected a puck from the side of the net that beat Scott Bowles cleanly.
That was the beginning of a radical shift in momentum in what had been a tightly contested game to that point. The Thunderbirds poured in three more goals over the next 10 minutes and 40 seconds, spelling the end of Lethbridge.
“There's a period of time in every game where it's going to go one way or the other,” said Dragicevic.” It was the start of the third period where I thought the tide shifted. A lot of times this year we've been on the losing end of that, but this time we were opportunistic.”
The two teams meet again on Saturday, when the Thunderbirds will have another chance to close the gap on the final playoff spot in the conference. Meanwhile, Lethbridge will try to escape the Canada West cellar with a win on the road.
