VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds never led but managed to get the game to double overtime, securing a 3-2 win over the visiting Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
"They did enough to get the win, it wasn't pretty by any means but we'll take it and build off of it," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon. "There was emotion. I was impressed with the physicality and the intensity and hopefully tomorrow we can put some plays together."
Tied at one heading into the third period, the Ooks went ahead 2-1 on an absolute snipe from the left wing side by Jake Mykitiuk just 12 seconds into the frame. The perfectly placed shot gave UBC goaltender
Rylan Toth little hope of making the stop.
Sent to their fifth power play of the game midway through the third when NAIT defenceman Curtis Roach was called for a slash, UBC tied the game for the second time thanks to
Tyler Sandhu's second of the preseason from
Chase Clayton at 11:59.
Still tied at two heading to 4-on-4 overtime, the Ooks began the extra frame with 1:35 left on the power play. But the 'Birds successfully killed the penalty, their fifth kill of the night.
1:05 into 3-on-3 double overtime, fourth-year defenceman
Josh Connolly snuck the puck past Ooks goaltender Brendan Jensen to secure the 'Birds' second straight preseason win.
The eventual victory came after a rather slow start that saw the visitors strike first, 9:31 into the opening frame courtesy of second-year forward Brandon Ralph.
The T-Birds were kept off the board until the final minute of the second when rookie forward Quentin Greenwood scored his first in blue and gold.
"He's been fantastic," said Butenschon about Greenwood's first preseason with UBC. "It's not just the goal tonight, he does a lot of good things out there. He works his butt off, his hockey IQ is really good. Now that we've seen him play in three games you realize that he sees the game really well."
The tie lasted all of 32 seconds of game time before Mykitiuk's goal on the first shift of the third.
It was a physical affair between two teams that are almost completely unfamiliar with each other and it provided some added entertainment with plenty of heavy hits and scrums after the whistle.
UBC outshot the Ooks 38-33 with Toth making 31 saves for the win. The T-Birds went 1-for-5 on the power play and a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
The 'Birds and Ooks get one more crack at each other Saturday afternoon to complete the two-game mini preseason series. Puck drop at Doug Mitchell is set for 2:00 p.m. PT.
