VANCOUVER – Scott Atkinson's hat trick led the UBC Thunderbirds to a resounding 7-1 victory over the Regina Cougars to open up the Canada West playoffs Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

All three of Atkinson's goals came on the man advantage with the 'Birds holding the Cougars' red hot power play off the board while Kaeden Lane was superb in goal making 23 saves for his first career Canada West playoff victory as UBC took a 1-0  lead in the best-of-three quarter-final series.

"We've prepared the right way and we've talked about how much fun we're going to have in the second season here," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon following the dominant display. "We went out there and man, we had the energy, we had jump in our legs and played with that fine line of digging in. Because it's playoffs, you have to dig in and battle and compete like it's war and when you get the puck you still got to do all the plays you've always done and have the ice in your veins to make those plays under pressure, so I thought our guys did exactly that."



Drawing a hooking penalty just 59 seconds after puck drop, the T-Birds capitalized and got the early lead with Atkinson finding the back of the net on a two-on-one. Josh Williams carried the puck into the offensive zone with speed, evading a pair of Regina penalty killers before passing across the slot to Atkinson who one-timed it past Adam Evanoff, glove-side.

Just over six minutes later Jake Kryski doubled the T-Bird lead, deflecting a Conner McDonald point shot as UBC took advantage of some serious offensive zone pressure which, for the most part, was unrelenting during the opening period, outshooting the Cougars by a 17-6 margin.

The onslaught continued in the second when UBC scored three times within an eight minute span to blow the floodgates open.



Sasha Mutala skated the puck into the high slot and wristed it through traffic and past Evanoff for his first career playoff tally at the 6:08 mark.

Atkinson's second of the night was followed shortly by a Liam Kindree one-timer blast from a Mutala cross-ice feed to give the 'Birds the five goal lead heading into the final frame.

After the Cougars got into some more penalty trouble late in the second to put the T-Birds on a five-on-three carrying over into the third, Atkinson completed the hat trick just 45 seconds into the final frame, dashing any of Regina's game one hopes.



Jack Wismer added his first of the playoffs at the 8:07 mark finishing a drive to the net, outwaiting Evanoff for a beautiful tuck from a sharp angle.

Eric Houk spoiled Lane's shutout bid with less than six minutes remaining, rifling a hard wrister top shelf to get the Cougars on the board, providing the visitors with their lone bright spot on the evening.

"You got to give them credit, obviously they battled us hard in their D zone and they kept us to the outside and I thought the times that we had any kind of push we just didn't generate enough off those times," said Regina head coach Todd Johnson. "Again, you just have to give them credit, they were prepared tonight, I thought they won the little battles that we didn't and they won the 50-50 pucks and hopefully we can change that tomorrow."
 

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UBC finished 3-for-7 on the power play while Regina failed to score on six opportunities. Aside from their special teams prowess, the 'Birds looked to be a fully bought in squad Friday night, blocking shots and winning puck battles even late in the final period when the game had long been decided.

"It's respect for the game and respect for your opponent," Butenschon said of his team's mindset. "They got guys over there, Heidt, Pouteau, Eskra, those guys can absolutely rip the puck so we know how quickly things can turn and we don't want to take anything for granted. That's what we've talked about since day one in training camp, that no matter what the situation is, we continue to play our game."

With the 1-0 series lead, the T-Birds can advance to their third consecutive Canada West semifinal with a game two win Saturday while the Cougars need to snap a six game losing skid in order to keep their season alive.

Puck drop at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is set for 7:00 p.m. PT. Tickets are available online and the game will also be streamed live on Canada West TV.