VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds saw a 3-3 tie broken in the final minutes of the third period when Alberta rookie Jakin Smallwood scored on the power play to hand the Alberta Golden Bears a bounce back 4-3 win, pushing their Canada West semifinal series to a third and deciding game.
A back-and-forth, emotion-filled affair saw the 'Birds jump out to a 2-0 lead, only to have Alberta score three times on six power play chances in the final two periods at Edmonton's Clare Drake Arena.
"In the first period we came out with so much energy and such a great attitude and we didn't take one penalty," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon. "We came in after the first intermission, (assistant coach
Jackson Playfair) and I looked at each other and we were like 'great period by us but also great job to stay out of the penalty box'. Five-on-five this whole series we've been the better team and then the second period we just ran into penalty trouble. It affected the flow of the game and the rhythm and it gave them momentum and confidence."
The T-Birds had five power plays of their own, several of them shortened in a game that saw a total of 14 minor penalties assessed in the second period alone.
Cole Schwebius made 39 saves in a game in which he was solid between the pipes for UBC. Ethan Kruger stopped 26 T-Birds shots for his first Canada West playoff win.
Much like game one, the first period was as good a start on the road as the 'Birds could have asked for as
Scott Atkinson opened scoring precisely three minutes in with his fourth of the playoffs. T-Birds captain
Chris Douglas sent the puck toward the net which banked off an Alberta defenceman and toward Atkinson who managed to get behind the last Bears line of defence, roofing it past Kruger.
More defensive zone issues for the Bears led to the 'Birds taking a 2-0 lead with five minutes to go in the opening period. A
Jonny Lambos point shot went wide of the goal, bounced off the end boards and out to the side of the crease where Kruger was unable to cover it and Douglas jammed in his third of the post-season.
The Bears finally got one behind Schwebius with 8:26 remaining in the second when Tyler Preziuso scored his second in as many nights, rifling the puck top shelf after getting a feed from Ryan Hughes.
As emotions rose higher and higher as the game wore on, a parade to the box by both teams late in the second eventually saw the Bears on a 4-on-3 power play and Matt Fonteyne took a Josh Prokop back door feed and roofed the puck from right along the goal line for his first of the playoffs, tying the game at two.
After yet another T-Birds penalty, the Bears' power play converted for the second time at the 5:46 mark of the third period as Fonteyne struck again to give Alberta their first lead of the series.
Just shy of the ten minute mark of the third,
Sam Huo tied the game again as he got an ugly finish to a pretty rush for his second of the playoffs. The rookie forward drove past an Alberta defenceman toward the net. Kruger made the save but the puck remained loose as it bounced around and eventually off Huo's leg and in. Initially the referee waived it off but an officials discussion resulted in the correct call being made.
As the period winded down, the Bears found themselves on yet another man advantage, their sixth of the game, and with just 11 seconds left on the power play, Smallwood one-timed the puck from the slot, converting Alberta's third power play goal of the game, restoring their lead leaving UBC with less than two minutes to seek another equalizer.
That proved fruitless despite some late chances as the best-of-three semifinal series will go the distance with a berth in next weekend's Canada West Final against the Dinos on the line after Calgary earned a game three win in their semifinal against the Huskies Saturday night.
The 'Birds will need to rely on their offensive depth and ability to wear teams down over the course of a game, a trait that has been a major part of their success in the second half of the season.
"I think that's been our motto since training camp," added Butenschon. "We're a team built for this situation. There's four lines and six defencemen that are here, we recruited them specifically for this. Last year in the final against Alberta we didn't have the horses. I think this time we do and we just got to get a good night's sleep and regenerate and come back tomorrow and do it all over again."
Puck drop for the third and deciding game goes Sunday at 6:00 p.m. PT at Clare Drake Arena and will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
