Calgary, AB - The Calgary Dinos drew first blood in the best-of-three Canada West Final, defeating UBC 4-1 Friday night in Calgary in a penalty filled affair. Both teams combined for 21 power plays on the night, as the Dinos were able to score a pair on the man advantage to earn the victory and put them one win away from a second straight Canada West title.
"We certainly had our opportunites," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas. "It's disappointing that we werere unable to capitalize on our chances, espeically in the third period on the power play. Now we have to realize this one is over and focus on playing desperate hockey tomorrow night."
UBC was unable to capitalize on a early power play opportunity in the first period and from their the home town Dinos dominated, outshooting the 'Birds 14-4 in the opening frame and scoring a pair of goals. Erika Mitschke got the game's first goal 7:02 into the first period. The Dinos would score their second goal on the power play as captain Tanya Morgan beat
Danielle Dube to give Calgary a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of action.
Having rallied from two goal deficits before, the 'Birds came out in the second period with jump, peppering Calgary netminder Amanda Tapp. This time it was UBC controlling the play and outshooting the Dinos 10-3 in the frame. Unfortunately, the lone goal of the period came off the stick of the Canada West MVP, Hayley Wickenheiser, who scored with just over five minutes remaining in the period to put the home side ahead 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.
The turning point came early in the third period as Calgary took five straight minor penalties, giving the Thunderbirds multiple 5-on-3 opportunities; however, UBC was unable to capitalize as the Dinos killed them all off. Eventually the 'Birds would get on the board as rookie
Nicole Saxvik beat Tapp on the man advantage with 8:44 remaining in regulation to cut the lead to 3-1. After that UBC ran into their own penatly trouble and Calgary would add one more goal on the 5-on-4 as Iya Gavrilova potted her third goal of the post season to make it 4-1. That is how things would end.
"Give credit to Calgary, they came out of the gates hard, pressuring us, and causing us to scramble," said Thomas. "However we settled down in the second took it to them and battled back and forth in the third period. Neither team was able to get into the flow of the things with so many penalties, which was disappointing, especially when you are playing in the Canada West final."
With the victory, the Dinos take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Gavrilova led all scorers with three points on the night.
UBC finished the night 1-for-11 on the power play, while Calgary went 2-for-10. The final shots were 23-23.
Game two is set for Saturday night at 6:00 pm PST at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary.
