LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds remain undefeated in 2024 with a 6-3 victory Thursday night over the Trinity Western Spartans at the Langley Events Centre.
Six goals from six different skaters combined with another strong night on special teams to secure UBC's eighth straight win heading into Friday evening's Winter Classic.
"I thought we came out really crispy, really sharp, all four lines were going, no stragglers," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon of his team's strong start. "Their goalie kept them in it. We had some real grade 'A' opportunities, couldn't bury them and then it just turned into a classic Trinity Western rivalry game where they're defending like their lives are on the line, blocking shots and you just got to continue to push and press and don't veer off the game plan and then just hoping the shot volume will pay off at the end."
Raphael Audet was by far the busier of the two goaltenders Thursday night facing 43 T-Bird shots including 23 in the second period alone. At the other end of the ice,
Dorrin Luding made 20 saves to pick up his second win of the season.
Following a dominant opening period for the T-Birds that went unrewarded, captain
Chris Douglas finally got the visitors on the board at the 3:51 mark of the second.
Jack Wismer grabbed the puck from the end boards, worked it out front and found Douglas in the slot who roofed it past Audet. The captain's 13
th of the season sets a new Canada West career high for the former Red Deer Rebel while matching
Liam Kindree for the team lead.
The 'Birds made the Spartans pay while on a two-man advantage with
Jake Lee's ninth of the season at 7:29, doubling their lead. Kindree teed up Lee for a one-timer bomb that got past Audet's blocker.
Less than two minutes later,
Sam Huo made it 3-0, finishing off an odd-man rush with his 11
th.
The Spartans got on the board to stem the tide, at least for a moment, with a point shot blast by Landon Fuller at 13:28, his third of the season.
TWU had ample opportunity to further cut into their deficit with a pair of power plays in the final six minutes of the period, but the T-Birds' Canada West leading penalty kill held strong, keeping UBC up by two heading into the third.
Playing his second game of the season in his former home building from his time with the Vancouver Giants,
Ty Thorpe restored UBC's three-goal lead early in the final period, finishing off a two-on-one pass from
Tian Rask.
Sniffing around the net for much of the night,
Cyle McNabb got his reward midway through the third, scoring on a breakaway, backhanding his fourth of the season past Audet.
Trinity got one back from Jarrett Penner with just under eight minutes to play when his wrister from the right faceoff dot deflected off a stick.
With any comeback home unlikely, any doubt was erased by
Logan Doust who scored his first as a Thunderbird with just 3:11 remaining. After
Jake Kryski made a slick pass to get the puck behind TWU's D, Doust slipped it five-hole as the 'Birds put up six-plus for the second straight game and the seventh time this season.
"He's a great kid, the boys love him, they were so happy for him when he scored there," Butenschon said of Doust. "He's had some good looks recently, he's a guy that does a lot of good things away from the offensive side. He's dependable, reliable, plays the game the right way and that's what everybody loves about him. Super happy that he got that monkey off his back because it was probably getting to him a little bit."
Penner earned his second of the game with just under two minutes remaining, but the 'Birds did a good job of controlling the puck the rest of the way, preventing the Spartans from having a thought of getting Audet to the bench for the extra attacker.
With little time to reflect on their eighth straight win, the T-Birds will quickly turn to focus on earning their ninth Friday night when they host the back half of the home-and-home with TWU in the Winter Classic. The fact it's another battle with a very familiar foe only adds to the intensity expected in the building.
"That's kind of the message we sent to the guys right after the game that they're going to come in there and want nothing more than to knock us off and upset us in front of our fans in front of hopefully a sold out building. I'm expecting them to do what they did tonight and maybe even more so."
Puck drop for Winter Classic 2024 is set for 7:30 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are still available online now!
