VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds have punched their ticket to the Canada West playoffs with an impressive 3-2 win over the visiting Mount Royal Cougars Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Needing a win combined with a Regina loss to clinch a post-season berth, the T-Birds (9-13-5) scored once in each period including a power play blast from captain
Jerret Smith in the third to extend UBC's win streak to three games while snapping Mount Royal's six-game tear heading into the final game of the regular season.
"I was real happy with the effort, for 60 minutes all four lines and six defencemen contributed, it was that real smart playoff type game we were looking for and the guys did a great job with it," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon who has guided his team to the post-season in all four years he's been at the helm. "When you combine the intensity and the passion that we had with the skill and the playmaking, it was a nice combination."
Carrying a two goal lead into the final period, the T-Birds already knew the Saskatchewan Huskies had done them a solid by handing Regina a 4-0 loss earlier. All the 'Birds needed to do was hang on for the win and they'd clinch their ninth straight trip to the playoffs.
Of course, the Cougars (17-8-2) wouldn't go away quietly, twice cutting UBC's lead to a single goal.
Ryley Lindgren scored his Canada West leading 18
th of the season on a back door feed from Sean Richards to cut the T-Birds' lead to 3-2 with just under five minutes remaining.
The Cougars put Richards on the bench for the extra attacker with two minutes to go but the T-Birds refused to let the visitors from Calgary get any sustained zone time.
Colton Kehler got clipped with a high stick with just 24 seconds on the clock as the Cougars went back to the penalty kill, forcing Morris back between the pipes for the ensuing faceoff, ending any further threat of a completed comeback.
Tyler Sandhu finished the game with a goal and an assist, scoring his 11
th of the season to get the 'Birds on the board with six minutes remaining in the first on a gorgeous rush.
Quinn Benjafield stole the puck along the neutral zone boards, dishing to Sandhu who picked up speed and drove hard to the Mount Royal net, outwaiting Morris and tucking in the puck past his outstretched pad.
Kehler doubled the T-Birds' lead at the 15:29 mark of the second with his fifth of the season and fourth point in the last two games. Kehler picked up an
Anthony Bishop rebound off the end boards and swatted the puck past Morris. Bishop earned his first point as a Thunderbird with the primary assist.
Nolan Yaremko broke
Rylan Toth's shutout bid with just under eight minutes remaining in the final period, scoring his second of the season on the power play. The rookie forward won a defensive zone face off, getting the puck back to Jamal Watson who blew past the T-Bird penalty killers and dropped the puck back to Yaremko whose initial shot was stopped by Toth before the rebound was jammed in.
Smith's blast on the power play restored UBC's two-goal lead exactly three minutes later with his third of the season.
The Cougars continued to push as Lindgren's tally made things interesting late, but the T-Birds held on for their third straight win.
The 'Birds know they're off to Calgary next weekend to face either the Cougars or the Dinos in the Canada West quarter-finals. Their opponent all depends on both the outcome of Saturday's game in Vancouver and the Dinos' battle in Lethbridge.
Puck drop for the final game of the regular season Saturday goes at 3:00 p.m. PT with the T-Birds looking to head into the playoffs on a four game win streak.
