VANCOUVER – From opening puck drop to the final whistle it was all UBC as the host UBC Thunderbirds earned a convincing season opening 5-1 win over the Alberta Golden Bears Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
In front of a crowd more than 2000 strong, the 'Birds scored three times on the power play, two of them from third year forward
Tian Rask.
Liam Kindree had a trio of assists,
Sasha Mutala and
Jake Lee both also had multi-point nights while
Kaeden Lane earned the win in goal making 26 saves, 12 of them in the final frame.
"We came out with a lot of energy but we respect that team so much, we knew we couldn't let up, no matter what the score was or what the situation was," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon. "We respect that team a lot and I think that was part of our success for the full 60 minutes because we refused to get sloppy or complacent. We had a contribution up and down the lineup, everyone was buzzing and it was great to see."
The crowd was able to get in on the excitement early when second year defenceman
Jake Lee opened scoring just 4:53 into the first. After the Bears failed to clear their zone, Lee sent a point shot toward the goal that deflected off an Alberta defenceman and past Ethan Kruger.
UBC got into penalty trouble early in the second with Alberta enjoying a lengthy two-man advantage. But the visitors weren't able to capitalize. In fact, after killing off the first minor to get back to 5-on-4, the T-Birds had a couple of glorious chances including a
Josh Williams shot that rang off the post.
After getting back to five-on-five,
Tian Rask jammed home a loose puck on a goalmouth scramble for the first of two on the night.
Alberta answered at the 10:27 mark with what turned out to be their only goal of the game. Right off an offensive zone faceoff, Justin Ball pulled the puck back to his brother Adam who quickly sniped past Lane to get back within one.
But just as the visitors sniffed a chance to title momentum firmly back in their favour, the T-Birds struck again, less than two minutes later.
Sasha Mutala finished off a
Sam Huo pass with a one-timer blast on 5-on-3 power play.
Still on the man advantage, Rask earned his second of the game just 68 seconds later when he deflected a puck past Kruger's right pad.
UBC finished the game 3-for-7 on the power play while killing off all 10 Alberta opportunities in a masterclass of special teams play.
"Our PK looked great," added Butenschon. "The ice was real sloppy and pucks were bouncing so it was very difficult for power plays to execute. But our Penalty kill was organized, structured, we blocked shots. Laner made the first save and we also disrupted their breakouts, we had up ice pressure which was important too."
The icing on the cake came in the third period when defenceman
Conner McDonald joined a 2-on-1 with Mutala and scored his first goal since the 2021-22 season.
"A lot started with our defence too," added Butenschon. "I thought our D was outstanding, it was probably one of the best games our defence has played as a unit in two years."
It may just be one game down in a long season but it was an impressive one for UBC who earned their first four-plus goal margin of victory against the Bears in well over a decade.
Saturday's rematch between the two Canada West powers is set for 3:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre with the Bears looking to avoid a rare weekend series sweep.
Tickets are available now and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
