EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds scored the final four goals of the game in a dominant 6-1 victory over the MacEwan Griffins Friday night at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena.
The hosts showed stretches of competitive play but were resoundingly outplayed by the defending Canada West champions who have now worked their way back to .500 on the season.
T-Birds (4-4-1) captain
Chris Douglas had his third Canada West career four-point game with two goals and a pair of helpers while
Sam Huo also scored twice. Spencer McLean scored the lone marker for the Griffins (3-4), while Eric Ward made 29 saves in the loss for MacEwan.
Scott Atkinson and
Jake Wright also scored for UBC while
Jack Wismer had a trio of assists.
UBC came out firing in the opening period, but the Griffins defended well. However, the T-Birds remained patient and took a 1-0 lead when Wright's centring pass deflected off a Griffins skate and through the five-hole of Ward at the 12:43 mark.
Just 4:36 later, Douglas would make it 2-0 after UBC jumped on a MacEwan turnover and made them pay which his first of the game and third of the season.
The Griffins cut UBC's lead in half before the period was out with McLean's second of the year, finishing off a tic-tac-toe play with just 12 seconds left.
Douglas restored the T-Birds' two-goal lead at the 5:54 mark of the second, a period utterly dominated by UBC, outshooting MacEwan by a 12-2 margin.
Huo's fourth of the season came on the power play with six minutes remaining in the middle frame to open up a 4-1 UBC lead heading to the final 20.
Atkinson's third came at the 13:51 mark while Huo rounded out the night with his second of the game and fifth of the season with just 43 seconds remaining.
Posting back-to-back wins, the 'Birds will look for their first three-game win streak of the year in Saturday's rematch, the final regular season meeting with the Griffins. Puck drop at the Downtown Community Arena is set for 2:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
