VANCOUVER – Scoring the final three goals of a penalty-filled affair, the UBC Thunderbirds extended their program-record win streak to 11 games with a 6-3 victory over the visiting Regina Cougars Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Six different skaters scored for the 'Birds (19-6-2) including
Sam Huo and
Sasha Mutala who both finished with a goal and an assist to extend their respective point streaks to five games while
Kaeden Lane made 32 saves for his eighth straight win in net and tenth of the season.
"I was very happy with the third period, very impressed with our ability to stay in games when there are so many special teams," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon after a combined 13 power plays. "If you're not on the power play, you sit there for seven or eight minutes and if you're not on the penalty kill, you sit there for seven or eight minutes. That's really hard. And it was back and forth, no real flow to the game and then in the third period we just said, 'let's just play, and stay out of the penalty box', and five on five we're the better team."
The Cougars (8-16-3), in desperate need of points in their attempt to secure the sixth and final Canada West playoff berth, started the way they intended with a Scott Mickoski power play goal just 4:15 into the first period, deflecting a Brennan Riddle point shot for his sixth of the season.
Regina's lead lasted less than four minutes with
Jake Kryski sniping his third of the season off a pretty feed from
Logan Doust in the corner.
The 'Birds took their first lead of the game early in the second when
Cyle McNabb cut to the slot and rifled an absolutely bullet past Adam Evanoff for his team-leading 14
th of the season.
Just 37 seconds later, Mutala scored his tenth from Huo and
Ben Keon who also finished with a two-point night, his first multi-assist game as a T-Bird.
But before the period was even halfway through the Cougars had tied it up with two more power play goals from Tyler Heidt and Jackson Doucet less than two minutes apart.
Scott Atkinson restored UBC's lead at the 10:41 mark with the 'Birds lone power play mark of the night, his tenth of the season from Mutala and
Jake Lee.
Huo's 12
th gave UBC a two-goal advantage once again, 2:35 into the third but the real dagger came ten minutes later. T-Birds captain
Chris Douglas won an offensive zone faceoff back to McNabb who's point shot deflected off
Jordan Sandhu, off the cross bar and over the goal line. Sandhu's fourth of the season made a deep hole insurmountable for the Cougars who failed to take advantage of Manitoba and MacEwan losses Friday as the three head into the final day of the regular season still trying to lock up the final conference playoff berth.
"I think they're a solid team, they play very well, structured physical, they defend well, they got great defencemen," said Butenschon of the Cougars, knowing Saturday will be a big test against a desperate team. "We've been on the other side of it, there's a lot to play for, a lot of pressure. It's so much fun, you just hope you can come out on the right side of things."
While Friday night wasn't pretty by any means, the 'Birds did have a solid final 20 minutes, outshooting the Cougars by a 13-5 margin and limiting any real chance for the visitors to claw their way back.
"We had too many turnovers at the blue line. It's such a high risk, low reward area, I would have rather seen us play a little cleaner at the blue line, and simpler, because once our forwards get to go hunting in on forechecks, I don't know there's a team in our league that's better than that than we are."
The T-Birds' win moves them back ahead of Mount Royal for third in the conference heading into Saturday's regular season finale where Sandhu will be honoured as UBC's only graduating senior prior to puck drop. The game is set for a 3:00 p.m. PT start
with tickets available online now. The game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
