VANCOUVER – The race to clinch first in the Canada West will have to wait one more day as the UBC Thunderbirds extended their points streak to 12 games but fell 5-4 in a shootout to the visiting Mount Royal Cougars Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
With so much riding on the outcome of this series, the crowd was treated to a game fitting for the occasion between two of the top five ranked teams in the country.
Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, the T-Birds (21-4-2) found themselves down by three after the Cougars (21-6) struck twice within an 87 second span early in the second.
But as quickly as the 'Birds fell into a hole, they clawed themselves out, getting within a goal after two quick strikes of their own from
Liam Kindree and
Josh Williams midway through the period.
Just 32 seconds into the third, that momentum continued with
Scott Atkinson's 12
th, the third-year converting on a one-timer pass from
Jake Lee to tie the game 3-3.
The 'Birds' fourth straight goal saw the hosts take their first lead of the game at the 10:50 mark of the final period when
Sam Huo scored his 13
th, tucking the puck past Shane Farkas to send the lively Doug Mitchell crowd into a frenzy.
"There was no panic when we were down 3-0 just because we all had such a good feeling, we had a really positive bench," said UBC head coach
Sven Butenschon. "The messaging was very positive and we kept the belief. When we got one we just had the feeling we were going to get two and then three. We felt like we were just getting started out there. We needed one more obviously, we had a couple chances where we needed to bury and couldn't do it."
Down to less than a minute remaining and with Farkas on the bench for the extra attacker, Canada West leading scorer Connor Bouchard tied the game again with his 23
rd of the season, sneaking a low shot through traffic.
Overtime leant heavily in the T-Birds' favour with a number of grade 'A' scoring chances as six of UBC's 37 shots came in the five minute extra period. But Farkas stood tall to force the game the distance.
Schwebius made a clutch stop on Hanus to force a fourth round where the Cougars prevailed thanks to a Farkas save on
Chris Douglas followed by the game clinching goal by Spencer Moe.
"We had so much energy and had so much jam to our game," added Butenschon who was pleased with the vast majority of what he saw from his squad. "We got our forecheck going, our D zone was great, we limited them to very few shots, very few scoring chances. Their power play found a way a couple times but we played an unbelievable game I thought. Mount Royal's a great team too and they find ways to win. That's the positive, we got one point, we just got to come back to the rink tomorrow with the same mindset to do it all over again. If we play a game like that again tomorrow we'll definitely win."
As frustrating a result as it was for the T-Birds, the team still holds fate in their own hands heading into Saturday's final game of the regular season. A single point against Mount Royal will clinch first place in the conference while a regulation loss could see the 'Birds claim second – still earning a first round playoff bye – or third, depending on the outcome of Calgary's final game against the Regina Cougars.
That final scenario would see a tie break in the standings between the T-Birds and Dinos come down to an overall goal differential with UBC holding the slight edge by two heading into Saturday.
Puck drop in what is perhaps the biggest regular season finale in T-Birds program history is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Tickets are available online and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
