Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team earned their biggest win of the season, defeating #5 Saskatchewan 6-4 Friday night at Rutherford Arena in Saskatoon, SK. It was the 'Birds third straight victory and the Huskies third straight loss.
BOX SCORE
Tied 4-4 after 40 minutes,
Max Grassi (North Vancouver, BC) scored the game winning goal on the power play with 9:40 remaining in the game to help the 'Birds pick up a crucial two points.
Dillon Wagner (Keephills, AB) added an empty netter to seal the deal.
Four points behind the second place Huskies heading into the weekend, UBC got on the board just 23 seconds into the game as
Neil Manning (Nanaimo, BC) scored his second goal of the season. The Huskies would respond just past the midway point of the period on the power play as captain Brennan Bosch beat
Jordan White (Surrey, BC) to tie the game at 1-1. However, before the period was out
Brad Hoban (Victoria, BC), the Canada West leader in rookie scoring, potted his 10th goal of the year to put the visitors up 2-1 through 20 minutes of play.
In the second period, it was once again Saskatchewan's power play getting them back in the game. Rookie Jimmy Bubnick made no mistake to tie the game at 2-2. It didn't take long for UBC to regain the lead though, as 1:17 later
Scott Wasden (West Kelowna, BC) scored his 10th goal of the season to tie for the team lead in goals for the moment with Hoban and
Cole Wilson (White Rock, BC). The Thunderbirds went in front 3-2. The Huskies had an answer again, this time scoring two goals 29 seconds apart to go ahead 4-3 with 4:59 left in the frame. UBC wouldn't go away, this time it was
Cole Wilson scoring his team leading 11th goal of the year to make it a 4-4 game after two periods of play. After starting all 20 games for the Huskies in net so far this season, Ryan Holfeld was given a rare night off, or so he thought. Backup David Reekie, playing his first game of the year was pulled and replaced by Holfeld after allowing four goals on 21 shots
The Thunderbirds never trailed through the first 40 minutes and that wouldn't change in the third period as
Max Grassi picked the perfect time to snap his eight game goal scoring drought, beating Holfeld on the power play 10:20 into the third period. It was Grassi's sixth goal of the season. The Huskies had their chances to tie the game including a power play with 2:40 left, but
Jordan White shut the door, stopping all 13 shots he faced in the third period and 33 shots in total on the night.
Dillon Wagner iced the game with an empty netter with 58 seconds remaining in regulation to secure the two points in the 6-4 victory.
"Two power play goals and a great penalty kill in the final five minutes was the difference," said head coach Milan Dragicevic. " We had a solid game plan and the players executed very well. Jordan White made some key saves in the third period and we blocked some big shots. This is only part one of the trip, we need a win tomorrow to get part two accomplished."
Final shots were 37-27 for the Huskies. UBC finished 2-for-5 on the power play, while Saskatchewan went 2-for-6.
Manning, Hoban, and Grassi eached finished the night with a goal and an assist.
With the victory UBC (12-7-2) now has has 26 points on the season and are tied with Calgary in points, who lost 6-0 to Manitoba Friday night. However, the Dinos have one more victory, so maintain their hold on fourth place in the conference. Saskatchewan (14-7-0) fell to third place with 28 points, one point behind second place Manitoba and just two points up on Calgary and UBC.
The Thunderbirds and Huskies are back in action tomorrow night at 5:00 pm PST at Rutherford Rink.
