VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds extended their win streak to six games with a 3-1 win over the MacEwan Griffins Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, vaulting over the Calgary Dinos for sole possession of first place in the Canada West.
The 'Birds (17-4) scored twice within the first 3:02 of the game, but despite putting up a season high total of 59 shots, Griffins goaltender Ashton Abel was superb between the pipes, allowing just the three goals while keeping his team in the game until the dying moments.
"He was outstanding in there, he made it look easy," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon in praise of MacEwan's netminder. "His angles were perfect, he anticipated all the plays. I still think we were not great with our finish. I loved our energy, I loved our grittiness, I loved our work ethic, I loved our preparation mentally. Just, if you had to pick one thing we didn't have it was that last touch around the net. But credit to him, he was outstanding and it's a good lesson for going into tomorrow."
It took all of 81 seconds for the T-Birds to open scoring when
Scott Atkinson finished for his ninth of the season on UBC's first shot of the game.
Jack Wismer banked the puck off the boards for Atkinson who rushed up ice on a 2-on-1 with
Chris Douglas. Atkinson turned on the jets and drove around the lone Griffins defenceman, backhanding the puck past Abel's outstretched left pad.
Less than two minutes later the 'Birds doubled their lead with
Sasha Mutala's seventh.
Sam Huo slipped away from his check behind the Griffins net, worked out front and slid the puck across the low slot to Mutala who had a wide open net.
Firing early and often, UBC absolutely peppered MacEwan's net with 25 shots in the opening frame while dominating puck possession. If not for some stellar saves by Abel, the visitors' deficit could have been much larger heading into the break.
Still up by just two to start the third, the T-Birds continued to pile up the opportunities, forcing Abel to make save after save as the ice was tilted in the first five minutes of the frame. The Atkinson-Douglas-Wismer line alone had a handful of high danger chances in the first few minutes of the period, but the Griffins (6-14-1) were able to hang in there, largely thanks to their goaltender.
The 'Birds finally got some added insurance at the 9:05 mark of the period when
Tian Rask put home his eighth.
Ty Thorpe stripped the puck below the goal line and fed it out front to Rask whose rapid fire release got past Abel's blocker.
MacEwan did get some life late in the game when Jordan Taupert let go a hard, high shot with 1:52 remaining, the only one of 18 Griffin attempts to get past UBC's
Cole Schwebius who picked up his ninth win of the season.
The Griffins didn't get Abel to the bench until there were just 38 seconds remaining for a 6-on-4 advantage while on their fifth power play of the game. It was just too little, too late for the visitors who dropped their sixth in a row.
"They're a tough out, no doubt," added Butenschon. "They play very well defensively, they have very good one-on-ones. When we had success it was just really simple, quick puck movement and then take a shot and maybe get a rebound. When we try to do tight turns and escapes, it kind of helped them out because they defend so well. So, got to get in on the forecheck, got to hit, got to be physical, got to get pucks back on turnovers and then make quick plays to bury it."
Saturday afternoon the T-Birds can go for the season sweep of MacEwan while looking to head out of the weekend still alone in first place after the Golden Bears handed Calgary a rare home ice loss Friday night with the Dinos now one point back of UBC.
The Griffins remain three points ahead of Regina for the sixth and final Canada West playoff berth now with just seven games remaining.
Puck drop for Saturday's final regular season meeting between the T-Birds and Griffins is set for 3:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available online and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
