Saskatoon, SK – The UBC Thunderbirds had their first taste of road action on Friday night as the visitors came from a goal down to force OT but ended up dropping the game 2-1 against the Saskatchewan Huskies in Canada West men's hockey action.
Adam Rossignol continued his early season scoring touch providing the equalizer for UBC early in the third before Craig McCallum sealed the game for the undefeated Huskies in the first overtime frame. Matthew Spafford opened the game's scoring midway through the first.
The Thunderbirds now see ones across the board as they fall to 1-1-1 on the season but have a chance to repeat what they did in the opening weekend of action by following up a loss on Friday with a win on Saturday.
The Huskies' Spafford broke the ice Friday night as one of the team's most relied upon players took advantage of some strong pressure in the T-Birds zone. Spafford found some room out front and exposed
Matt Hewitt's five-hole on a single deke for the game's icebreaker 9:52 into the first, seconds after the Thunderbirds finished killing off their only penalty of the period.
Despite four power play opportunities between the two teams, with three calls going in favour of the Thunderbirds, neither team gained a sizeable advantage over their opponent as the visiting T-Birds held a 5-4 edge in shots in the first. Although some good puck movement and puck control, the Thunderbirds' sole chance came in the final minute of the period as a
Nate Fleming shot was deflected off the post and out of play with
Luke Lockhart parked in front of Huskies goaltender Ryan Holfeld.
The second period was characterized as a polar opposite to the first, as the Thunderbirds had trouble breaking out of their own zone, and exhibited significantly less puck control. It was business as usual for Hewitt, however, as the T-Birds starting goaltender continued to provide some superb play, stopping all six shots he faced in the middle frame
Holfeld stopped all 10 shots he faced in the second period, his best coming on a UBC 3-on-1 robbing the visiting team with a glove save denying the Thunderbirds of the equalizer. Jesse Ross had a glorious opportunity as he had a ton of space out front and had Hewitt all but beat before backhanding it over the net. The middle frame was a full 20 minutes of 5-on-5 play as both teams maintained their composure and discipline.
The Thunderbirds wasted no time in the third as Rossignol continued to prove his worth as the rookie scored his third goal in as many games 1:47 into the period. Rossignol was the benefactor of a fortunate bounce and made no mistake burying a shot past Holfeld tying the game at one apiece. Manning extended his point streak to three games with the helper, while
Brandon Underwood also got his name on the score sheet for the first time in 22 regular season games.
With a 1-1 tie at the end of 60 minutes, the game would need overtime to decide who would go home with two points Friday. UBC's Hewitt lost his stick and was unable to regroup as McCallum found room in front of the net to extend the Huskies winning streak to three games, as they move to 3-0-0 on the season. The goal came at 3:07 of the first overtime frame. Saskatchewan joins Mount Royal as the Canada West's only undefeated teams with six points on the season.
Despite the history of these two teams, neither team fell victim to penalty trouble after the first period, with just four penalties all game coming in the opening frame. Holfeld finished the game with 25 saves while his counterpart Hewitt finished with 18, his second straight game allowing just two goals.
The Huskies had to do without Michael Sofillas who sat out Friday after collecting a pair of goals in his first two CIS games last weekend in the Huskies home-and-home series versus the Regina Cougars.
Both teams will duke it out in the doghouse again tomorrow, with puck drop scheduled for 6 p.m. PST at Rutherford Rink.
