VANCOUVER – Tyler Sandhu earned a hat trick while the UBC Thunderbirds scored four times on the power play in a 7-1 rout of the visiting Lethbridge Pronghorns Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

It was a dominant effort from start to finish for the 'Birds who scored twice in the first half of the opening period and never looked back. Rylan Toth made 23 saves for his third win of the season while 12 different skaters recorded at least a point.

"I was happy the guys continued to push, didn't veer off the game plan or the whole culture we've been trying to build just because we hadn't been getting the results," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon following his team's largest margin of victory in his four years at the helm. "I'm really proud of the guys of how hard they worked especially away from the puck, on the back check, and it resulted in good offensive situations and opportunities."



The 'Birds opened scoring 6:57 into the opening period on their first power play of the night when a Jake Kryski shot attempt went off a Pronghorn stick and towards Sandhu who had a wide open net for his fourth of the season.

Less than two minutes later fifth-year defenceman Kyle Becker doubled the UBC lead with his first goal in three seasons. Quinn Benjafield powered through the slot and slid the puck over to Becker who had joined the rush and was left alone at the side of the crease.



After a dominant first period, the 'Birds started the second right where they left off as Sandhu notched his second of the night just 27 seconds in.

The Pronghorns managed to prevent the T-Birds from adding to their lead until the mid stages of the third when the flood gates opened.

It all started when Austin Vetterl held the puck in at the blue line on the power play before feeding it to Maxwell James in the slot who unleashed a wicked wrister over Jack Burgart's left shoulder.

Benjafield scored his fourth of the season to give the 'Birds a 5-0 lead, a tap-in at the top of the blue paint on the power play after a nice feed from Austin Glover down low.



Less than a minute later at the 13:28 mark, Sandhu completed his first career Canada West hat trick. Becker drew in a Pronghorns' defenceman as he carried the puck down the left wing side and passed back to Sandhu who rifled it past Burgart.

Fourth-year defenceman Joe Carvalho scored his first of the season on yet another power play with just over three minutes remaining when he pounced on a loose puck low in the slot.

Toth was just 2:57 away from his first shutout as a Thunderbird when Ryan Chynoweth took advantage of a UBC turnover, scoring his second of the season to at least give the Pronghorns something heading into Saturday.



The 'Birds finished the night 4-for-6 on the power play while killing off the only two penalties they took. UBC outshot the Pronghorns 29-24.

"We got two units plus some good players that aren't even on the power play," said Butenschon of his squad's excellence on special teams. "It's good to get that win but we got to be ready for tomorrow right away."

After securing their first Friday night win of the season, the T-Birds will attempt their first weekend sweep of the year when they once again host the Pronghorns Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. PT.