VANCOUVER – Matthew Greenfield made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season while Bradley Schoonbaert's first period goal was all the offence the Calgary Dinos needed in a 1-0 win over the UBC Thunderbirds to kickoff the 2020 Canada West schedule Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

While the Canada West playoffs are still more than six weeks away, the two rivals played a playoff like affair with plenty of physicality, hate, and terrific goaltending at both ends of the ice. Greenfield was full value for the goose egg making several incredible saves denying the 'Birds time and again.

"I thought in the first and second he was steady and in the third he was outstanding," said Calgary head coach Mark Howell of Greenfield's terrific night. "I thought we competed hard, played hard. A couple mental mistakes in the third where we lost our guy in the middle of the ice but for the most part our effort was good which is what we wanted to take care of tonight."



Not to be outdone, Rylan Toth was exceptional between the T-Bird pipes stopping 34 pucks.

UBC's penalty kill was also strong Friday night going a perfect 5-for-5, but the home team struck out on three power play chances.

"We went toe-to-toe with them, we made one mistake, they buried it, we had our chances and we didn't, that's the difference," said a frustrated UBC head coach Sven Butenschon following the hard fought loss. "We have to do a better job to find ways to get ugly goals, to generate more quantity. If it takes 40 or 50 shots every game then that's what it's going to take."



The lone goal of the game came midway through the opening period, all thanks to a defensive zone turnover forced by Calgary's Brendan De Jong who made his Dinos debut Friday night. The former Portland Winterhawk stripped the puck along the boards in the Calgary zone and fed it across to Tim Vanstone who dished to Schoonbaert. The play quickly developed into a three-on-one with Schoonbaert electing to shoot, beating Toth glove side.

The win makes it six in a row for the Dinos (12-3-2) who now find themselves in sole possession of second place in the conference thanks in part to Saskatchewan's loss Friday night on home ice to the first place Alberta Golden Bears.

UBC's (4-10-3) loss extends their losing streak to five with a chance to earn the weekend split and a much needed two points Saturday afternoon when the 'Birds and Dinos meet for the final time this regular season. Puck drop at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is set for 3:00 p.m. PT.