VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds are a win away from advancing to a second straight Canada West Final after a convincing 5-0 win over the Mount Royal Cougars in game one of the best-of-three conference semifinal series Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Rylan Toth made 24 saves for his first Canada West playoff shutout while Matt Revel completed the hat trick for the T-Birds as UBC gained momentum throughout the game, scoring three times in the final period while limiting the Cougars to just six of their 24 total shots in the last 20 minutes.
"We got lucky there in the first period, they came out and dictated the play and pushed us around a bit and towards the end of the period we kind of found our legs and got some confidence," said UBC Head Coach Sven Butenschon whose team bent but didn't break early on. "We had a total buy in to defend by everybody. Playoff hockey, watching those games from last weekend they were all tight checking, one goal games so that was our mind set that it wasn't going to be easy and we needed to defend."
The Cougars held the clear edge in the opening half of the first period, earning an early power play opportunity that tested Toth a couple times. But the 'Birds managed to get to the period break unharmed before taking things over in the second.
Carson Miller opened scoring with his first post-season Canada West goal just 2:44 into the period, capitalizing on a delayed Cougars penalty call pouncing on a Jonathan Smart rebound, getting the puck past a sprawled Riley Morris.
It remained a one goal game until five-and-a-half remaining in the frame when Revel scored the first of his three on the night. The veteran T-Bird finished off a nice passing play on an odd man rush that appeared to end with a Morris save but with the puck still loose under his pad, it was knocked into the net when one of his own defencemen collided into him.
The 'Birds kept the pedal down in the final period, outshooting the Cougars by a 14-6 margin.
Revel's second of the game came at the 11:04 mark of the third when he deflected a Smart point shot on the power play.
Chris Douglas scored his first of the post-season at 14:28, capitalizing off a rebound from a Scott Atkinson slap shot, a goal which chased Morris from the net as Riley Sims entered in relief.
Revel completed the hat trick with just over two minutes remaining, his second on the power play, leading the rush into the Cougars' zone before rifling the puck past Sims.
The T-Birds finished the game 2-for-6 on the power play while the Cougars failed to score on three opportunities.
"We had a couple early opportunities, you'd certainly like to get up by that first goal, it kind of changes the context of the game a little bit so it's a little bit of a turning of the tides there in the second period," said MRU Head Coach Bert Gilling. "It's credit to UBC in terms of how well they played, but just from watching our guys, we looked a little heavy legged out there, a little slow. We need to play faster and try to get a lead."
The series continues Saturday as the Cougars face elimination for the first time this post-season. But with MRU's backs up against the wall, the T-Birds know they have their work cut out for them.
"We know it's not going to be that easy tomorrow, we're expecting a huge pushback by them," added Butenschon. "It's going to be the toughest game of the year for sure."
That game gets underway at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available for free but must be reserved in advance. The game will also be streamed live on Canada West TV.
Game 1 highlights:
