VANCOUVER – Colson Gengenbach had a four-point game while Carl Tetachuk made 30 saves as the Calgary Dinos earned a well-deserved 5-2 win over the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday afternoon, sweeping the season opening series at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

Scoring twice in each of the first two periods, the Dinos had a stranglehold on the game, only put slightly in doubt when Kayden Sadhra-Kang scored on a beautiful end-to-end rush in the first minute of the third, his first career Canada West goal in his first appearance for the blue and gold.

But less than three minutes later, Gengenbach intercepted a UBC centring pass deep in Calgary's zone, banked the puck off the boards up to Connor Gutenberg who restored the Dinos' four-goal lead.



Sam Huo got one back late for the 'Birds but with just 3:01 on the clock, the end result was never really in doubt as the 'Birds fall to 0-1-1 on the season after Friday night's shootout loss.

"The things we didn't like about our game last night were magnified today," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon after his team dropped their first two games of the season for the first time since 2019. "(Calgary) came out with some energy and jam to their game and won all the board battles. Every time the puck ended up on the boards, in the corners, they came out with it. I think a lot of our problems just started out by being soft on the walls."

It was a dream start for the Dinos, scoring on their first two shots of the game to stake out a 2-0 lead by the 3:27 mark, the two tallies coming just 25 seconds apart. Dallon Melin cut to the middle and wristed a shot past a screened Brett Mirwald for his first of the season. The very next shift, Gengenbach took advantage of a T-Birds turnover, sniping far side over Mirwald's left shoulder for his second goal in as many games.



The 'Birds showed signs of coming to life as the period progressed while Mirwald made some grade 'A' saves to keep the deficit from growing, but the visitors carried the two goal advantage into the break.

A good first shift of the second period for UBC was quickly forgotten when Gengenbach scored his second of the game just 54 seconds into the frame to give the Dinos a 3-0 lead, once again taking advantage of a T-Birds turnover.

The Dinos added to UBC's woes when Connor Horning deflected a Gengenbach shot past Mirwald at the 12:39 mark of the second as the visitors held a 4-0 lead heading to the third.



Tetachuk's shutout bid was spoiled in the opening minute of the final period when rookie defenceman Kayden Sadhra-Kang showcased his smooth skating abilities and finishing touch, scoring his first goal in the blue and gold to give UBC some life.

That life was snuffed out once again less than three minutes later when Gutenberg restored the Dinos' four-goal lead.

A rare bright spot for the 'Birds Saturday was the team's penalty kill, going a perfect 5-for-5, although UBC failed to score on six power play chances.



"It's going to be a really fun exercise to figure this out and to put the pieces back together again," Butenschon said. "But, you got to give (the Dinos) credit. They get leads, they play defence, they box you out; that's what they do and that's how they win hockey games. When you fall behind and you got to force the offensive plays, it's really hard, especially early on in the year. I always talk about the character in that room when we win and I can't forget that on the losses. So, I got to trust the group to figure it out with the new leaders in there and as coaches we'll try to support them as best we can."

The T-Birds will head to Calgary next weekend for their first road trip of the season when they visit the Mount Royal Cougars (2-0) for a two-game series starting Friday night at Flames Community Arenas. Puck drop for MRU's home opener is set for 6:00 p.m. PT with Saturday's rematch scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on Canada West TV.