VANCOUVER – The hottest team in the Canada West kept on rolling Saturday afternoon as the UBC Thunderbirds (14-9-1) earned a 3-1 win over the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (18-5-1) at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
The 'Birds have now won six in a row and seven of their last eight while handing the Huskies back-to-back losses for the first time this season. UBC goaltender
Rylan Toth made 27 saves for his first Canada West win.
Tied at one after two periods, the T-Birds found themselves on their fifth power play of the game early in the third. After
Matt Revel won an offensive zone faceoff,
Tyler Sandhu worked a give-and-go with
Jerret Smith who blasted his third of the season for what turned out to be the game winner.
The Huskies pressured for the equalizer and despite two power plays in the second half of the final frame they couldn't get another past Toth who was tremendous between the pipes.
"The boys are really pumped for him because he's such a good guy," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon about his rookie goaltender. "He had some tough luck this year but we always knew he had it in him. When (
Matt Hewitt), your fifth year guy is on a roll, he just had to wait for his time and work hard in practice with Alex Auld, our goaltender coach. He's a real relaxing presence back there, I know as a coach I like that and I'm sure all the players do."
"It's easy to get up for games like this, especially when it's your hometown team," said Toth who was named the game's first star. "Coming from the WHL where there are so many games, there are so many less here so there's definitely a little more incentive to look forward to when you do get to play. I just wanted to be ready when I got a chance, and it feels good."
With Huskies netminder Jordon Cooke off for the extra attacker,
Michael Stenerson banked the puck out of the UBC zone for
Chase Clayton who found the empty net with three seconds left to put the game on ice, sealing the weekend sweep.
The 'Birds finished the game 1-for-8 on the power play while UBC's penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5.
After falling down 4-0 before getting on the board Friday night, Saskatchewan opened scoring in Saturday's rematch at the 8:05 mark when MacKenzie Johnston pounced on a rebound for his second of the season. Josh Roach and Logan McVeigh picked up the assists.
The 'Birds responded with a ferocious start to the second period. While UBC was unable to score on a power play that carried over from the end of the first, they kept momentum on their side culminating in
Riley Guenther's third of the season two and a half minutes in.
Kyle Becker made a centering feed to Guenther to tie the game at one.
Nick Buonassisi got the second assist to extend his current point streak to five games.
Stenerson's assist on Clayton's empty netter gives the fourth-year forward a five game point streak as well.
The 'Birds remain one point behind the Manitoba Bisons for third in the Canada West and have opened up a five-point lead over Mount Royal for the fourth and final home playoff berth.
"It's almost like collectively, everybody has elevated their game, to a man, and that makes your entire core and group stronger," said Butenschon. "Each individual has taken it to another level and when any team does that you're dangerous. It's nice to see and I'm proud of the guys. Can we keep it going now, that's the challenge."
"I think we're just believing in ourselves and each other," added Toth. "Everyone is laying it all out there for the guys and supporting each other. We've come together pretty well and it's exciting with the time of year it is."
UBC heads to Calgary next weekend to face the Mount Royal Cougars in the T-Birds' final regular season road trip. A single regulation 'Birds win would clinch a home playoff berth for the Canada West quarter-finals.
