VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (13-9-1) outhustled the Saskatchewan Huskies (18-4-1) for a sixth straight win with a 5-1 victory over the third ranked team in the country Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
The 'Birds scored twice in each of the first two periods while getting yet another solid performance in net from
Matt Hewitt who picked up his 11
th win of the season as UBC clinched a post-season berth for the seventh consecutive year.
The Huskies outshot the T-Birds 41-18 but Hewitt's stellar play combined with a commitment to blocking shots and keeping quality chances to a minimum allowed UBC to improve to 6-1 in January while handing Saskatchewan just their fourth regulation loss all season.
"I don't know if I've seen an effort like that since I've been here," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon about his team's relentlessness all night long. "To a man, you go through the whole lineup, everybody brought their A game. Everybody finished their checks, everybody blocked shots, it was awesome."
The 'Birds struck on their first power play of the game to open scoring 9:02 into the first period.
Adam Rossignol deflected a
Josh Connolly shot from the blue line, Huskies goaltender Jordon Cooke made the save but kicked out the rebound to
Nick Buonassisi who scored his fifth of the season.
UBC doubled their lead seven minutes later when
Carter Popoff finished off a remarkable solo effort. The second-year forward dug the puck from the right wing boards, cut to the net, toe dragged the puck and fired it short side for his fifth of the season.
The T-Birds only kept the pedal down in the second with
Matt Revel and
Michael Stenerson trading feeds to each other to stake UBC to a 4-0 lead heading to the third.
Saskatchewan turned the puck over high in UBC's zone four minutes into the period and the two used their speed to put themselves on a 2-on-0 rush, finished off by Revel for his eighth of the season and third in the last two games. The rookie forward then returned the favour winning a puck battle along the boards before feeding it across the slot for Stenerson who scored his tenth with a backhand spin-o-rama.
"It was a great play by Revel on the forecheck knocking the puck down," said Stenerson following his first Canada West three-point game. "I just saw there was an open lane and I dashed for it and he made a great play to give it to me. I didn't have much room so I just turned and tried to get it up as quick as possible on my backhand and it worked out."
The Huskies were finally able to get one by Hewitt on the power play with just over six minutes remaining in the third. Rookie defenceman Sam Ruopp hammered home his first Canada West goal from Connor Cox and Alex Forsberg.
Saskatchewan pulled Cooke for the extra attacker with more than two minutes remaining but Stenerson found the empty net for his second of the night with
Austin Vetterl picking up the lone assist.
"We battled our hardest, we knew they were going to pressure us in the third," added Stenerson. "They got one on the power play that (Hewitt) couldn't see but other than that we kept them to the outside. Even if they had chances it was one and done, he did a great job in net."
The 'Birds finished the night 1-for-3 on the man advantage while the Huskies went 1-for-6.
With the victory the T-Birds remain just a single point behind Manitoba for third in the conference while moving three points clear of fifth place Mount Royal.
"We've always been a close, tight knit group, I think we're just getting more of the bounces we wanted in the second half," said Stenerson who says the 'Birds are playing as a confident group right now. "We're playing more as a team, playing to our identity. If we play like that we'll be successful and it's showing right now."
UBC is now 6-1 in January and can make it six wins in a row with a victory in Saturday afternoon's rematch with the Huskies. Puck drop at Doug Mitchell is 2:00 p.m. PT.
