Vancouver, BC - The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey couldn't seem to find their groove Saturday night, losing 3-0 to the Regina Cougars at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. With the loss, the 'Birds head into the holiday break with a record of 9-6-1 and in fourth place in the Canada West conference, two points behind Manitoba and only one point up on fifth place Calgary.
BOX SCORE
The game was nearly a carbon copy of Friday night's affair between these two teams, but instead it was the visitors taking control from the start and getting the 3-0 victory. The Cougars scored two power play goals and Andrew Hayes was sharp from start to finish in net, making 28 saves to earn the shutout.
"The bottom line is we weren't ready to play tonight," said head coach Milan Dragicevic. " We took some bad penalties in the offensive zone and they capitalized. We had the opportunity to get sole possession of third place in the conference, we didn't do it, we didn't achieve our goal and once again it is a learning experience for our guys. If you are not ready to play, a goaltender can win you a game and that is what happened tonight."
After earning the shutout Friday night,
Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) got the start again Saturday night. Regina opened the scoring 3:56 into the opening period on the power play as Brayden Nargang tipped home a Russ Nielsen point shot to make it 1-0 for the visitors. Both teams were trying to set the physical tone as Regina's John Sonntag and UBC's
Linden Saip (White Rock, BC) each had a jaw dropping hits. However, it didn't seem to faze the Cougars as they kept UBC on their heels and would take advantage of turnover in the UBC zone, as Carter Selinger found Tyler Penny alone in the slot and he made no mistake, beating Stanford and giving Regina a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
Max Grassi (North Vancouver, BC) had UBC's best chance in the period, but lost the handle on the puck just as he was trying to deke Hayes on a breakaway. The 'Birds managed just five shots on net in the first period, compared to the Cougars 10.
The second period was no better for the Thunderbirds. They had a couple of chances, but were unable to convert.
Michael Wilgosh (Selkirk, MB) was stopped back door and
Scott MacDonald (Surrey, BC) and
Wyatt Hamilton (Cochrane, AB) both had chances in close on the power play, but could not get it by Hayes. Once again, they had limited shots, firing just eight at the Regina net for grand total of 13 through 40 minutes. The score remained 2-0 through two periods.
"I don't think in the first two periods we shot the puck enough," said Dragicevic. " We were too pretty, too cute. When a goalie is playing that well, you just want to put pucks in his feet and get rebounds. We didn't do that. We were going east-west in the slot and you can't do that. I give Hayes credit, he stole the show tonight."
Hayes best save of the night came early in the third period when he denied
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC) on a 2-on-1. He then stopped
Joe Antilla (Madeira Park, BC) twice on the power play. Despite firing 15 shots on net in the third, the 'Birds were unable to beat Hayes. James Friedal rounded out the scoring for Regina on the power play, beating Stanford five hole. 3-0 was the final.
The final shots were 28-23 for UBC. Hayes earned the shutout as the Cougars get back to .500 on the season with a record of 7-7-2. They are in sixth place in the conference, three points back of UBC in fourth.
The Thunderbirds were 0-for-4 on the power play, while Regina went 2-for-4.
UBC is now off until after Christmas. They will take part in the SFU hockey tournament and then return to Canada West regular season action on January 4-5, 2013 when they play host to the Calgary Dinos at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
