CALGARY – Riley Lindgren scored four times to power the Mount Royal Cougars to a bounce back 5-3 win over the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night at Flames Community Arenas, forcing a third and deciding game in the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series.
Lindgren scored his first of the game just 39 seconds in to kick start his big night before adding two more in the second period, capping off his big night by hitting the empty net, foiling a T-Birds comeback attempt after UBC scored twice in three minutes to pull within a goal.
"They came out real strong which we expected, they got the early goal which was good for their confidence and then we ran into some serious penalty trouble," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon whose team went 0-for-4 on the power play and 6-for-7 on the kill. "We just spent way too much time killing and couldn't really get into a rhythm tonight."
Less than a minute after the opening puck drop, Lindgren scored his first of the playoffs from the right face off dot after a feed from Sean Richards. It was a result of a furious start for the Cougars who stormed out of the gate after dropping the first game of the series a night earlier.
To no one's surprise, the fourth game in nine days between these two had plenty of heat with 18 minutes in penalties in just the first period alone.
Replicating their start to the first period, the Cougars doubled their lead just 31 seconds into the second. And once again it was Lindgren, this time picking up a rebound for his second of the game. Jesse Lees fired a wrister off the crossbar and the puck bounced just to the left of
Rylan Toth almost right onto the tape of Lindgren's stick.
But just under three minutes later, the T-Birds got on the board to cut the Cougars' lead in half with
Quinn Benjafield's second of the series.
Colton Kehler put the puck on net from the top of the right circle while Benjafield redirected it just in front of Wyatt Hoflin.
The Cougars wasted little time restoring their two-goal lead, however, as Lindren completed the hat trick on the power play, just 1:43 after Benjafield's marker.
Halfway through the third, Mount Royal took their biggest lead of the night when Nolan Yaremko completed a wraparound try, backhanding the puck past a pile of bodies for his second of the series.
But the 'Birds wouldn't go quietly as just 61 seconds later
Matt Revel deflected a
Shaun Dosanjh pass past Hoflin for his first of the playoffs, getting UBC back within a pair.
The T-Birds push was in full flight when they managed to pull within a single goal thanks to a lucky bounce.
Jake Kryski was credited with his first of the post-season when Cougar defenceman Tyson Helgesen backhanded the puck out of mid-air and into the back of his own net with five-and-a-half minutes remaining.
UBC pulled Toth for the extra attacker but with eight seconds on the clock, Lindgren scored his fourth of the night into the empty net to seal the victory as the Cougars staved off elimination, forcing a third and deciding game.
"They still haven't seen us play our best," added Butenschon. "We definitely need some other guys to step up and contribute offensively. The things that gave us success on Friday, we didn't see enough of that today. We have to stay out of the box tomorrow, play four lines, and have everyone contribute."
Game three, with a berth in the Canada West semifinals on the line, is set for 6:30 p.m. PT at Flames Community Arenas. The Game will be available live on Canada West TV.
