VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds quickly put to rest any questions about bye week rust, bursting out for five first period goals en route to a 7-2 win over the Manitoba Bisons Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
The T-Birds (9-5-1) scored on both their first two shots of the game, stunning the visitors from Winnipeg who just couldn't gain any traction as UBC played perhaps their most dominant period of the season.
While the Bisons (2-9-2) limited the damage after the opening period onslaught while also scoring once late in the second and another early in the third, the hole was just far too deep as Manitoba suffered their eighth straight loss while UBC extended their win streak to five games.
"We were so sharp, our execution was the best it's been probably all year," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon. "Our energy, our intensity, that's what you kind of assume happens after bye weeks because you're recharging and you're resting and you take care of your body and you want to come out guns a blazing like that. But that's not always the case – it was great to see we didn't have any of that rust and we played a pretty awesome game."
Just 2:20 into the first period,
Tian Rask ripped a wrister from the high slot clean past Braden Holt for his fifth of the season as the veteran forward helped set the tone for what was to come.
Jake Wright doubled the lead less than two minutes later and added another at the 8:03 mark, his eighth of the season and his first career Canada West multi-goal game. His second came unassisted as he pounced on a loose puck off an errant Bisons pass and sniped over Holt's glove.
UBC's only power play goal of the game came courtesy of
Sam Huo at the 14:36 mark.
Sasha Mutala feed a quick pass across from the right wing boards to Huo who rifled his seventh of the season, extending the T-Birds' lead to 4-0.
Before the frame was out,
Scott Atkinson wristed his fourth from the slot from
Chris Douglas and
Conner McDonald.
Having allowed five goals on 16 shots, Holt was on the Bisons' bench to begin the second with Kolby Thornton between the Manitoba pipes the rest of the way. The second-year goaltender did well in his 40 minutes of action, stopping 20 of 22 T-Bird shots, including some five-alarm saves in quick succession in the third period.
Carson Latimer got the 'Birds to six with his fifth of the season midway through the second, finishing off a beautiful passing sequence with Douglas at Atkinson as the line combined for seven points on the night.
"They're all big bodies that skate well and play with an edge and play the game the right way," said Butenschon of his most prolific trio Friday. "I think they probably would like to get a little more offence going in their game, but when those guys are leading the way in the checking department and the grit department, that's a championship recipe when you've got four lines going and one line playing the game that way. I love their game, I think they got more to give though. I think they can still push and elevate."
The visitors got on the board with just under four to play in the second when Jackson Arpin finally beat
Cole Schwebius with his second of the season. Schwebius finished the night with 17 saves for his seventh win in as many starts.
Manitoba cut UBC's lead to four on a two-man advantage just 32 seconds into the third when Jonny Hooker scored his seventh of the season with a one-timer from the low slot.
At the end of what was a rather feisty final 20 minutes,
James Form scored his first of the season with less than a full second remaining on the clock, restoring UBC's six-goal lead to put the icing on the cake.
Now with eight wins in their last ten games while scoring five or more in five of their last seven, the defending Canada West champions certainly look a confident bunch. But in the middle of a ridiculously tight battle for positioning in the West Division, there's no room for complacency.
"We need the points, we have to be ready, we can't think it's going to be easy," said Butenschon, fully expecting a much tighter battle in Saturday's rematch with the Bisons. "They got some really good hockey players on that team. They got a strong recruiting class, they got good goaltending. They're going to be better and we have to be of the same mindset we had today and just get after it immediately."
Puck drop for the final regular season meeting between the T-Birds and Bisons is set for 3:00 p.m. Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available online now and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
