EDMONTON – Scoring four unanswered goals in a 5-2 win over the host MacEwan Griffins Friday night, the UBC Thunderbirds extended their season-long win streak to nine games, remaining atop the Canada West.
Tied 1-1 after 40 minutes, the Griffins briefly took a 2-1 lead when Loeden Schaufler scored his third of the season just 67 seconds into the final frame.
But
Jack Wismer responded 79 seconds later with his second of the season, kickstarting a dominant final period that saw the T-Birds not only score four times but outshoot the Griffins 15-5.
"They came out playing really hard, defensive, really gritty tough hockey and they made us earn it," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon following his team's 21
st consecutive regular season victory dating back to last December. "We stayed positive and disciplined and it's starting to be a bit of our MO, just continue to stick to the process and wear teams down until they literally can't keep up to us anymore. That third period it was pretty clear that's what was going on."
The Griffins held a 1-0 lead until the 11:22 mark of the second when
Ty Thorpe extended his point streak to four games with his third of the season and first of two on the night. A clearing attempt was sent right up the middle to a waiting Thorpe who backhanded the puck high past Ashton Abel who made 40 saves while taking the loss in net for MacEwan.
Despite peppering Abel with 25 shots in the opening two periods, the T-Birds refused to get frustrated and finally saw the dam break open in the third.
"I think it's maturity, I think it's confidence, I think it's acknowledging that teams are really amped up to play us," said Butenschon of his team's mindset when facing an uphill battle. "They're looking at the standings, they're playing a second ranked team in Canada, that gets them amped up and ready to go and we're seeing other teams' top game. With that, our guys realize it's not going to be easy. You got to stick to it, don't get sloppy, don't try to cheat."
Schaufler's go-ahead marker early in the third set up the eventual dominant remaining 19 minutes for UBC, kickstarted by Wismer who picked up a rebound in front.
Jake Kryski scored the eventual game winner at the 7:06 mark of the third with his second of the season, the first of three T-Birds goals in a five minute span to break the game wide open.
Carson Miller scored for the second straight game to double UBC's lead, redirecting the puck off a
Jonathan Smart point shot.
Miller's best play of the night might have come three-and-a-half minutes later when he made a beautiful cross-seam pass, between the legs of a MacEwan defenceman over to Thorpe who finished for his second of the night and fourth of the season.
The Griffins were able to keep UBC's top producing line of
Sam Huo,
Liam Kindree, and
Sasha Mutala off the scoresheet, but it hardly mattered with the T-Birds' depth on full display.
"At the beginning of the season I might have talked a lot about our depth but in terms of finding the scoresheet it was mostly (Huo, Kindree, and Mutala) getting it done. And then recently other guys have really stepped up. Today it was Thorpe with two, Wismer really led the way in some offensive categories and then
Carson Miller, what can you say about him, just doing everything out there. Heavy lifting, killing penalties, blocking shots, finding the scoresheet, key faceoffs, he's just doing everything. He's just been a huge part of our success."
The 'Birds will try to make it ten straight wins to start the season Saturday when they meet the Griffins again at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena. Puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m. PT with the game available on
Canada West TV.
