VANCOUVER – In what's becoming a familiar trait, the UBC Thunderbirds dominated the final period to earn a 4-0 win over the visiting Regina Cougars Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

The 'Birds (13-4) rode another strong special teams performance, going 2-for-4 on the power play while killing off all eight Regina chances, while Cole Schwebius earned his first shutout of the season making 12 saves.

"We're starting to really develop that third period taking over of games that we've had in the last couple of years," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon following his team's first shutout victory of the season. "With a deep team, I'm trying to get everybody into it, I want to make sure everybody has a role and everybody has an opportunity and ice time. It's maybe hard at times for guys to get into it but in the third period it really pays off and you can really tell they didn't have much pushback there in the third."



Second year blueliner Jake Lee finished the game with the eventual game winner and an assist on Cyle McNabb's second period power play goal for his sixth multi-point game of the campaign.

The former Kelowna rocket defenceman opened scoring with his seventh of the season 6:30 into the first. Jack Wismer threw a beautiful pass from the right wing boards across to Lee who stealthily crept down low and had nothing but a wide open cage on the back door play.

Despite three power plays in the opening 20 minutes, the Cougars (4-11-2) weren't able to find the equalizer and managed only five total shots in the period.

In a game that saw neither team gain much sustained momentum, thanks in large part to the high number of penalties, the 'Birds did manage to double their lead with seven minutes to go in the second when McNabb sniped top shelf for his second in as many games. The third year forward took a drop pass from Lee and wristed the puck over Curtis Meger's left shoulder.



The visitors nearly got on the board late in the second when on their sixth power play of the game, Leyton Holoien sent a slap shot off the left post and crossbar. Instead of cutting the T-Birds' lead in half, UBC's conference leading penalty kill got the job done yet again to hold the 2-0 lead going into the final frame.

Liam Kindree struck five and a half minutes into the third to give the 'Birds a commanding 3-0 advantage. Sasha Mutala skated in with the puck along the left wing boards while his linemate headed for the front of the net. Mutala threaded it over to Kindree who backhanded the puck over a sprawling Meger for his team-leading 11^th of the season.



Ty Thorpe scored UBC's second power play goal of the game at the 7:02 mark of the third with his sixth of the season. The former Vancouver Giant captain finished off a fantastic solo effort that saw him strip the puck off a Cougars defenceman in the corner before shooting post and in, far side, past Meger.

Just moments later, Cole Schwebius made a tremendous right pad save, denying Ty Barnstable in tight to keep the Cougars off the board and keep his shutout bid intact.

The third was owned by the T-Birds, dominating on the shot clock – to the tune of an 18-2 margin – while wearing down the Cougars, coming at them in waves.

?? MHKY | Scoring for the second straight game, @UBCMHKY forward Cyle McNabb on the team getting on track, himself finding his form after a lengthy absence and Saturday's rematch with the Cougars pic.twitter.com/4PIU95sPFs

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) December 2, 2023

Schwebius wasn't very busy in the final 20 minutes, nor all night long, but was critically solid when counted on.

"Early on we were dominating and they come down and get a scoring chance but he smothered the puck," said Butenschon of his netminder's performance. "He tracked it well, his rebound control was great. It's not easy when he's watching us put five or six pucks on net before he gets one and it's really challenging for our goaltenders but he did a great job staying in it mentally."

The victory keeps UBC within a point of the conference leading Dinos who also won Friday night, just down the number one highway in Langley over the Trinity Western Spartans.

Having already earned the season series win with the two points Friday night, the T-Birds will battle the Cougars one more time Saturday afternoon in what will be their final Canada West game for 2023 before the lengthy December break. Puck drop at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is set for 3:00 p.m. Tickets are available online and the game will be streamed live on Canada West TV.