VANCOUVER – In the final game of the regular season, the Mount Royal Cougars bounced back by scoring three unanswered goals to earn a 4-2 win over the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
Connor Rankin scored twice, including the game tying marker on the power play, while Wyatt Hoflin made 24 saves as the Cougars head into the playoffs winners of seven of their last eight, while the T-Birds see their three-game win streak snapped.

Thanks in part to some out of town results, this weekend indeed served as a playoff preview as the 'Birds and Cougars will meet in the quarter-finals for the second straight season next weekend.
 
"It was a pretty greasy game but I was real happy with our group, the effort, the compete level was high," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon following the playoff type contest. "We rolled four lines, everybody was going, but it was tough to get scoring chances."


 
Prior to puck drop, UBC graduating seniors Kyle Becker and Austin Vetterl were honoured at centre ice along with their families, celebrating a tremendous five years of service in the blue and gold.
 
The feel-good moment carried over into the opening period as the T-Birds (9-14-5) opened scoring with Quinn Benjafield's sixth of the season. The goal came just moments after UBC killed off their first penalty of the game, marking a serious momentum shift in the T-Birds' favour. Matt Revel fed the puck to Benjafield off the neutral zone wall putting him on a two-on-one rush with Dryden Michaud. Benjafield held onto the puck and went forehand, backhand over Hoflin's blocker.
 
But just over two minutes later, the Cougars (18-8-2) responded thanks to Rankin's first of the afternoon. The fifth-year forward headed to the crease unattended as Nolan Yaremko quickly fed the puck over from the left wing boards, just as Rylan Toth was getting set after playing the puck.
 
Midway through the second, the 'Birds regained the lead with Tyler Sandhu's 12^th of the season. The former Tri-City American wheeled around the offensive zone before wristing the puck past Hoflin for his third goal in as many games.


 
The T-Bird lead lasted all of 15 seconds, however, as shortly after the goal the Cougars found themselves back on the man advantage. The Canada West's leading power play needed only six seconds to strike with Rankin wristing the puck from high in the zone, past traffic and off the back bar.
 
Things got pretty chippy in the final 30 minutes with four sets of offsetting penalties and extracurricular pushing and shoving after nearly every whistle.
 
The T-Birds were able to battle through for the most part and played an impressive final frame, outshooting the Cougars by a 10-3 margin, but it was the visitors who managed to score twice.
 
Connor Chartier tallied what stood up as the game winner at the 12:19 mark of the third when Jesse Lees centred the puck to Chartier who deflected it past Toth for his tenth of the season.


 
With two minutes remaining, the 'Birds put Toth on the bench for the extra attacker but it was Brandan Arnold who sealed the victory for MRU as he fired the puck into the empty net from centre for his third of the campaign.
 
For the first time in five games the 'Birds failed to score on the power play, finishing 0-for-3, while the Cougars went 1-for-6.
 
If Saturday's fireworks were any indication, it all sets up to be a fiery Canada West quarter-final series starting next Friday in Calgary.
 
"We're close," Butenschon said of his team's readiness for the post-season. "That's part of the advantage when teams are fighting for their playoff lives, they have that playoff edge already. Hopefully we can keep that going, but it's not going to be easy."