It's the final road trip of the regular season for the UBC Thunderbirds who head to Winnipeg to battle an old foe in the top-ranked Manitoba Bisons Friday and Saturday, February 1 and 2 with a first-round playoff bye potentially hanging in the balance.
The No. 10 T-Birds have won three straight allowing just one goal against in the process and enter Friday night seven points back of both the Bisons and the Alberta Pandas for one of the top two spots in the conference.
A pair of victories would keep UBC in the conversation for one of those top positions while anything less would virtually guarantee the 'Birds would host a quarter-final series to begin the post-season.
Like the 'Birds, Manitoba has already clinched a home playoff berth while running on a six game win streak. Given the standings, the season series could also come into play for a potential tie-breaker. The T-Birds and Bisons split their last series in Vancouver with UBC earning a regulation win and a single point in a shootout loss.
Puck drop Friday is 5:00 p.m. PT with Saturday's rematch at 12:00 p.m. PT, both at Winnipeg's Wayne Fleming Arena.
Last Action
The T-Birds swept the Saskatchewan Huskies with a pair of shutout victories last weekend. The T-Birds outshot the Huskies 56-31 as UBC also clinched the season series over their rivals from Saskatchewan.
Manitoba extended their win streak to six games with the weekend sweep of the Pronghorns in Lethbridge. The Bisons earned a 4-2 win Friday night but needed a shootout to secure the 2-1 victory Saturday.
Players to Watch
Tory Micklash (#31, G) – The third-year goaltender has been on a tear of late posting back-to-back shutouts, setting a new team record now with 11 in her Canada West career. The Winnipeg-area native is second in conference wins (11), goals against average (0.84), and save percentage (.958).
Rylind MacKinnon (#55, D) – The rookie has really come into her own having put up 12 points to lead all UBC defencemen. MacKinnon has found the scoreboard in three of her last five games and boasts a +7 rating.
Coach's Take
There's little doubt the T-Birds will continue to be defensively solid heading into the home stretch and then into the post-season, so the main focus these next two weeks will be on developing and executing in the offensive zone.
"We are getting a lot of scoring chances, it's just been the execution part," said UBC head coach
Graham Thomas. "We've got pretty balanced scoring as of late. We're getting freshmen, veterans, everyone is contributing and that's a nice sign going into the stretch. We're going to need all lines to contribute."
UBC scored their first power play goal in four games last Saturday, and despite clicking at just 10.1 percent on the season, the 'Birds are more focussed on winning the special teams battle on any given night.
"That's going to build us momentum," added Thomas. "Whether their PK is 75 and ours is 77, we're still better than them in that game, that's all that matters."
