VANCOUVER – The No. 10 UBC Thunderbirds struck first in the Canada West quarter-final with a 4-1 win over the visiting Calgary Dinos Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Staking themselves out to a 3-0 lead by the end of the second period, the 'Birds withstood a late onslaught by the Dinos to hang on for the all important 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
The Dinos finally got on the board midway through the third when Riley Sheen let a slap shot go from the top of the circle on the power play. Calgary rode the wave of momentum continuing to buzz in the T-Birds' zone for the next several shifts but three minutes later UBC restored the three-goal lead.
Austin Glover stole the puck in the neutral zone and fed it to
Adam Rossignol who came into the Dinos' zone on a 2-on-1 with Popoff. Rossignol returned the feed across as Popoff backhanded the puck into a wide open cage for his first of the post-season.
"On that goal Rossignol makes a great play but Glover was incredible on the back check," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon who was pleased with his team's effort from the opening puck drop. "We talk about how everything you do matters, every time you step on the ice you got to do the little things and Glover did it and it created an opportunity."
Matt Hewitt made 17 saves in the third period alone and 43 overall for the win between the pipes while picking up first star honours.
"In the past, Calgary's done a good job of getting in my face and making it hard for me to see pucks but my D did a great job of boxing out and letting me see the first shot and letting me re-set for second chances," said Hewitt. "At the end of the day it's playoff hockey and it's going to take a huge battle and huge mental effort from the boys and I thought they came out and we battled hard for the win tonight."
Both teams finished 1-for-5 on the power play.
The first period started with a bang as both teams continually laid the body with several big hits.
UBC opened scoring 8:52 into the opening frame when
Matt Revel shoveled a loose puck off a goal mouth scramble past Calgary's Jordan Papirny and into the back of the net.
Austin Vetterl and
Michael Stenerson picked up the helpers as the 'Birds carried the one goal lead into the break.
After killing off a
Kyle Becker roughing minor midway through the second, the defenceman was fed a beautiful stretch pass from
Riley Guenther just after stepping out of the box to come in on Papirny on a clear breakaway. Becker made no mistake shooting stick side to give the 'Birds a 2-0 lead with seven minutes remaining in the period.
Calgary pressed hard looking to get on the board before the break but instead it was Revel finding the loose puck in the crease and roofing it for his second of the game from Vetterl and Stenerson as all three finished with two-point games. The goal came with just five seconds left in the frame giving the 'Birds a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Dinos went to their fifth power play of the game with six minutes remaining but some clutch T-Bird penalty killing kept UBC up by three.
"There were a couple times where we were really tired and hemmed in our own zone and at that point it's a real matter of character," said Butenschon. "You got to block shots and you're so tired but you just got to find a way and dig deep and somehow get it done."
Game two of the best-of-three series goes Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT. The 'Birds are looking to advance to the Canada West semi finals for the first time since the 2014-15 season. A Calgary win would force a third and deciding game which is scheduled for Sunday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
