VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds scored three times in the first period and never looked back as they downed the visiting Grant MacEwan Griffins 5-2 Friday night at Father Bauer Arena for a program record fifth consecutive win to start a season.
Chris Douglas, Jonathan Smart, and Tian Rask all scored within a 3:13 span in the opening frame while Rylan Toth made 21 saves in net as the No. 4 T-Birds (5-0) kept their hot streak alive to remain atop the Canada West Standings.
On two different occasions, the Griffins (2-1) got within two goals, but Scott Atkinson's first as a Thunderbird and Smart's second of the game into the empty net late in the third ensured the visitors from Edmonton never got more than a sniff of victory.
"As a coach you love to see that," said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon of his team's tremendous first period that saw UBC outshoot MacEwan by a 19-10 margin. "Especially when you get an early lead like that you know the other team's going to come, and they did, but we withstood the pressure and we stood tall and got over every puck. We really beared down on those 50/50 situations. They scored a couple goals but we made it hard on them and they earned those."
After Douglas got the ice breaker 8:36 into the first, Jonathan Smart made a terrific end-to-end rush just over a minute later, breaking through the Griffins' defencemen and wristed the puck with precision under the blocker of GMU starting goaltender James Porter.
With just over eight minutes remaining in the period,
Jarret Tyszka played the puck from the point right to Rask who was left unattended in the low slot and the rookie forward shoved in his own rebound for his third of the season and fourth point in the last three games.
That spelled the end of Porter's night as Ty Taylor was sent in for relief duty and the Griffins backup was solid the rest of the way making 27 saves in total.
The visitors got themselves on the board midway through the second when Kole Gable scored his first Canada West goal, on the power play, to cut the 'Birds' lead to two.
It wasn't until the 10:51 mark of the third when UBC found the back of the net again when Atkinson stole the puck from behind the Griffins' net on a miscue between Taylor and one of his defencemen. The former Edmonton Oil King carried it out front and roofed it to restore the T-Birds' three-goal lead.
GMU answered back three minutes later with their second power play goal of the night. Colin Schmidt pounced on a rebound and backhanded in his second of the season to give the Griffins some renewed life with six minutes remaining.
But with the net empty for the extra attacker, Smart hit the empty net from just inside his own blue line for his second of the game and third of the season, putting the game on ice, handing the Griffins their first loss of the season.
Perhaps the only real downside Friday night for the T-Birds was their power play which failed to convert on six opportunities. MacEwan finished 2-for-5.
Despite the record setting win for UBC, it's not something that's about to be talked about in the dressing room with the team focussed on much bigger aspirations.
"I feel like we're just getting started," said Butenschon. "We don't care about the five wins, we just want to win tomorrow."
The 'Birds will get that chance to win again Saturday when they host the Griffins once again at Father Bauer Arena. Puck drop is set for 3:00 p.m. PT. Tickets are sold out but the game will be streamed on Canada West TV.
