VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds got out to a shaky start, but made a game of it down the stretch against the Saskatchewan Huskies, losing a closely contested 5-4 decision at Father Bauer Arena. The game-winner came in the back half of the third period on a Saskatchewan power play when Matthew Delahey ripped a snapshot from the slot, ringing the puck off the crossbar and over the goal
line to ruin UBC's incredible comeback.
BOXSCORE
It looked like the Huskies were going to walk away with an easy win when they went up 3-0 in the first ten minutes of the game. In fact, Delahey scored on his first shot of the game, just 23 seconds into regulation on a tipped shot to set an early tone. Then, approaching the halfway mark of the first period, Brennan Bosch's shot through a screen beat
Jordan White. 45 seconds later, Chris Durand capitalized on a discombobulated UBC defence, scoring from in close to chase White from the UBC net in favour of
Kraymer Barnstable. Craig McCallum had Saskatchewan's fourth goal, snapping a wrist shot low blocker side past Barnstable. In addition to Delahey's pair of goals, another standout on offense was Kyle Ross, who contributed two assists in the Huskies' win.
The Thunderbirds showed guts to turn around a disastrous start, starting with a pair of goals from veteran
Scott Wasden. Wasden's first goal came following a beautiful feed from
Marc Desloges. Wasden skated along the goal line and roofed a backhand over David Reekie's shoulder in the Husky net. Wasden's second goal came on a rebound off a scramble in close.
Jordan Inglis scored a similarly blue-collar goal in close to get the 'Birds within a goal of tying the game early in the third period.
Then it was just over a minute later that
Matt Wray scored the tying goal, picking up a rebound on Desloges' shot off the rush, and allowing Desloges to register his second assist of the night.
The teams battled it out in a deadlock for several more minutes before the aforementioned Huskies power play yielded the ultimate game-winner.
The Thunderbirds had close chances on a power play of their own late in the third period, but shots rang off the goalpost, leaving the T-Birds with their second straight regulation loss.
“I give our guys credit – for the last 40 minutes we battled and outscored Saskatchewan,” said UBC head coach Milan Dragicevic. “We played to our strengths, which are getting the puck in deep and getting our forecheck going. We hit the post twice in the last five minutes, we got some power play chances, and the game could have gone either way. At the end we take a penalty and we miss a blown assignment on the PK. They have the best power play in Canada, and that's what good teams do – they capitalize on mistakes.”
The near comeback proves to Dragicevic and his club that they are able to compete with the best teams in Canada West. However, notching one in the win column requires a game-long effort.
“I told the guys if we play like that for 60 minutes, we're going to win,” said Dragicevic. “But you can't play 40 minutes against one of the best teams in Canada and expect to win. I admire the fact that we came back and dug deep and battled through adversity.”
But if his team poured it on in the latter two thirds of play, what went wrong in the first period? Dragicevic points to his squad getting away from their style of game. “We showed them way too much respect in the first period, and they took it to us,” said Dragicevic.
“We made mistakes, we weren't physical, we weren't chipping the puck. Everything we wanted to do, we did in the last two periods but didn't do in the first.”
Besides the ability to shift momentum, the game had another bright spot in the return of UBC captain
Justin McCrae following an extended lay off due to injury.
Dragicevic was happy with his team leader's return to action. “He created some stuff, he skated, he was good on the forecheck, he had some opportunities down low,” said Dragicevic. “The biggest thing with him is he's a leader and he leads by example. It's non-stop work ethic.”
McCrae and the Thunderbirds will try to carry that work ethic over into a complete game on Saturday when they face the Huskies again. UBC sits four points behind Calgary for the final home playoff spot in Canada West, while Saskatchewan holds third place, just two points behind first place Manitoba.
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