VANCOUVER – After the UBC Thunderbirds earned a 5-3 win over Alberta Friday night, the Golden Bears bounced back and then some, handing the blue and gold a 9-1 loss Saturday at Clare Drake Arena.

In a contest that was never in doubt, the Bears (11-2-1) scored four times in the first period and never looked back. Alberta outshot the T-Birds (7-5-2) 46-23 and scored three power play goals on six opportunities. UBC's lone goal came six minutes into the third when Cyle McNabb broke Ethan Kruger's shutout bid, scoring on a shorthanded breakaway.

A night after falling down 5-0 before finally finding the back of the net, the Golden Bears opened scoring Saturday on Ryan Hughes' fifth of the season at the 6:21 mark of the first period, late on Alberta's first power play of the game. Noah Volcan passed across the blue line to Hughes who wristed the puck through some traffic and past Dorrin Luding who made his second consecutive start.

It wasn't long before the Bears doubled their lead – 81 seconds to be precise – as Josh Prokop scored on a rebound for his ninth, giving Alberta a 2-0 advantage.

Justin Hall gave the Bears a 3-0 lead at the 12:38 mark with a spin-o-rama and a shot from the left hashmarks after getting a feed from the corner by Jakin Smallwood and in a true reversal from 24 hours earlier, the Golden Bears were in firm control of the game early.

The T-Birds pressed hard late in the opening 20 as Sasha Mutala and Sam Huo both had high quality scoring chances, but Kruger kept his team ahead by three. Then with 1:47 remaining, Adam Hall rifled a low shot right off a face off to give the Bears a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the break.

Early in the second the Bears kept the pedal down, getting their fifth goal of the game just shy of the three minute mark from Josh Paterson who blasted the puck from the slot, high blocker past Kaden Lane who entered the game in relief to start the period.

Prokop scored his second of the night with 8:41 remaining in the second, outwaiting Lane with a backhander over the goaltender's left shoulder. Before the period was out, it was a 7-0 Bears lead with Dylan Plouffe converting on a rebound into a wide open net.

The T-Birds finally broke the goose egg 5:54 into the third when McNabb extended his point streak to four games, scoring his ninth of the season on a breakaway, beating Kruger on a backhander.

Alberta managed to restore their seven goal lead on a Wyatt McLeod one-timer, the Bears' third power play goal of the night.

For good measure, the hosts added a shorthanded marker with 2:10 remaining when Tyler Preziuso converted on a two-on-one.

Despite the rough looking final score, the reality is the T-Birds managed to get a split at Clare Drake and now return to Vancouver for their final home series of 2022 next weekend when they host the Mount Royal Cougars Friday and Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Puck drop Friday, November 25 is 7:00 p.m. PT and tickets are available now.