CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds moved into fourth place in the Canada West standings after earning a 2-1 road victory Friday night against the University of Calgary Dinos in the first of a two-game set.
With the victory, UBC now has 22 points, one point more than Calgary.
"Our penalty killing was excellent tonight and we were oppurntiic when it counted," said UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic. "
Jordan White made some key saves when it was 6 on 4 in the last minute."
Friday night was a clash of two styles. Calgary came out throwing the body while UBC relied on its speed to get behind the Dinos' defence.
The Dinos had the best opportunity to take an early lead as they were given the man advantage four times in the first period. Those power play chances would be stymied by the Thunderbirds, though, as they held the home team to only five shots through the first 20 minutes.
UBC opened the scoring at the 13:33 mark of the opening frame. With the Thunderbirds swarming the Dinos crease,
Marcus Toye banged in a rebound past Dustin Butler. The goal was Toye's first in CIS, coming in his hometown.
With fewer bodies in the sin bin, the second period saw more even play between the two teams as the game developed some flow.
At 9:48, Calgary knotted the score at 1-1 as Taylor Stefishen fired a shot from the left side of the net over the out-stretched
Jordan White. The tally was Stefishen's his 10th of the campaign, with Walker Wintoneak picking up the lone assist on the play.
The Thunderbirds restored their one-goal lead at the 14:52 mark of the second when
Matt Pepe delivered a quick stretch pass to
Marc Desloges. The Vancouver native broke in alone and snapped the puck past Butler for his sixth of the season. UBC held a 17-10 shot advantage going into the second intermission, along with the 2-1 lead.
Desloges found himself with another breakaway midway through the third period. The shifty forward tried to deke to the backhand as he moved in close, but was denied by the left pad of Butler.
Calgary went on the power play for the final time with 1:24 left in the contest. Following a timeout, the home team pulled the goaltender setting up a six-on-four opportunity. The Dinos managed to get a couple of shots from the outside on White, but none would get past the third-year netminder as the Thunderbirds held on for the win.
The Dinos outshot the Thunderbirds 22-21. Calgary went 0-for-5 on the power play, while UBC was 1-for-4.
The two teams go at it again Saturday night in the rematch at Father David Bauer Arena, with puck drop at 6 p.m.
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