CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds came out of the starting gates guns a blazing, staking out a 5-1 first period lead and never looked back, earning a 7-4 victory over the host Mount Royal Cougars to split their weekend series at the Flames Community Arena.
After seeing their season-long and program record win streak snapped at 10 games the night before, the 'Birds scored twice within a 39 second span to go ahead 2-0 before the six minute mark of the first, setting the tone for what was a truly impressive response following Friday night's loss.
"You can't ask for much more after that start," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon after the bounce back performance. "We challenged the group and asked what kind of team we are and how we're going to respond to adversity. The vibe in the room before the game was unreal and it carried over into the opening faceoff and the guys just really took it to another level. It was undeniably the best period of the year, that first."
Scott Atkinson got the ball rolling with his fourth of the season 5:07 in, popping home a rebound after
Jake Lee's drive to the net.
Sam Huo's eighth of the season doubled UBC's lead 39 seconds later after
Liam Kindree threw the puck out front to the Canada West leading scorer.
Connor Bouchard got the Cougars on the board at the 7:48 mark with his sixth of the season, but the pushback was short-lived as Lee responded less than a minute later with his first of two in the period.
Kindree made it a 4-1 T-Birds lead with his seventh of the year on the power play at 13:46.
Lee's second of the game and sixth of the season capped off the five goal period, roofing the puck from the slot off a beautiful pass from Huo who outbattled a Cougars defenceman along the boards.
The second period saw MRU and UBC trade goals from Dawson Milliken and Kindree who capped off his fourth three-point game of the season.
Despite entering the third trailing by four, the Cougars mounted a valiant comeback effort, cutting the deficit to two by the 7:22 mark off goals from Spencer Moe and Clayton Hanus, both on the power play.
It was a rare third period where UBC was outshot as the Cougars put up 11 on
Kaeden Lane who finished the game with 24 saves and his seventh win of the season in goal for the 'Birds.
"Last night we were real close and I knew that team was well prepared because they had a bye week the week before and probably had a really solid game plan and gave us everything they had," Butenschon added. "We were right there and just couldn't find a way. I was just really, really proud of the guys for the way they responded."
Ty Thorpe hit the empty net with just one second left in the third as the Cougars put Shane Farkas on the bench for the late 6-on-4 advantage during their fourth power play of the period.
The win allows the T-Birds some breathing room atop the Canada West standings heading into their bye week after the Alberta Golden Bears and Saskatchewan Huskies split their weekend series, assuring UBC they'll at least remain tied for first once they resume play on November 17. That date will serve as a potential battle for first place when the Huskies visit Vancouver for a weekend series at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
