VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds scored the final two goals of a wild third period to secure a 6-4 victory over the Bisons Friday night in Winnipeg, spoiling Manitoba's home opener at the RINK Training Centre.
The Bisons tied the game 4-4 with five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the third on Brett Davis' second of the night. But just 13 seconds later, Scott Atkinson made a slick feed from the end boards to Josh Williams who took the puck to the top of the crease and backhanded it in for his first as a Thunderbird and what stood as the game winner.
"We gave ourselves a chance and we had a good start," said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon whose team enjoyed a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes. "If you do that if you ever get sidetracked throughout the game at least you know you had it that night and you can go back to it. We probably could have been up more than 3-0, but you let a team hang around and you have skilled players like Brett Davis on the other side that will make you pay. Luckily in the third period we still pushed them and found another level and buried a couple late."
By the time the first period hit the seven minute mark, rookie defenceman Jake Lee had already tallied twice for the T-Birds, his second and third goals of the season coming just 2:08 apart.
Carson Miller added his first of the season to stake UBC out to a 3-0 lead heading to the second period.
The Bisons (0-1) got on the board 4:30 into the second when Devon Skoleski fed the puck to Chase Hartje in the slot who finished to cut the T-Birds' lead to two.
Hartje returned the favour to Skoleski early in the third on the power play to make it a one-goal game before Davis tied it midway through the frame with his first of two on the night.
Ethan McIndoe's second of the season put UBC (2-0-1) back in front by one at the 13:16 mark when he pounced on a loose puck off a Ryan Pouliot shot that went off the end boards.
Davis responded just 1:16 later to tie the game again before Williams' first as a T-Bird gave UBC the lead for good. Sasha Mutala put the game on ice scoring into the empty net with just 33 seconds on the clock for his second of the season capping off the six-goal final period.
Two of Manitoba's goals came on the power play as they finished the game 2-for-4 while the 'Birds failed to convert on three chances. There's no question the Bisons were opportunistic as they were badly outshot by a 35-15 margin.
"Our penalty kill's got to be a little better," added Butenschon. "When you're playing a team that doesn't have much offence they're just hoping to have a power play because that might be their only chance to generate any offensive momentum, so we need to tighten that up. They're a good team and have good players that can make plays. I don't think we did anything that poorly, it wasn't a collapse, we didn't get soft or anything. They just made some really good plays and finished well."
The 'Birds now have the opportunity to earn their first weekend sweep of the season when they close out the weekend double dip Saturday afternoon. Puck drop in Winnipeg is set for 1:00 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.
