VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (7-1) scored five goals in the first period, two of them from
Scott Atkinson, and never looked back, completing the weekend sweep of the Regina Cougars (0-8) with a 7-2 rout Saturday afternoon at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, extending their win streak to seven games.
13 different T-Bird skaters found the score sheet, including
Logan Doust who scored in the third period and added an assist in his season debut while
Cole Schwebius stopped 22 shots for his third win of the season.
After Friday night's mixed bag of an effort, the team's first game back following a bye week, Saturday afternoon the T-Birds were at their best from the opening faceoff, full value for the dominant result.
"Right from the minute I walked into the building today you could tell the guys were real upbeat, real chatty and it's such a good sign when you see that," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, his team now on their longest win streak since December 2024. "When we started the game with Douster, his first game in a while and he won that faceoff, we got the puck deep, we got physical, it just kind of set the tone right off the hop. So, kudos to Douster for getting the boys going."
Atkinson's first of two on the afternoon broke the ice just 4:51 after puck drop, cleaning up a
Sasha Mutala rebound.
Jake Wright doubled UBC's lead at 8:04, taking advantage of a Regina defensive zone turnover for his team-leading sixth of the season.
The 'Birds then tacked on three more within a five minute span kickstarted by Atkinson's second of the game at 13:01, converting off a sweet feed from
Chris Douglas on an odd-man rush.
Nathan Sullivan sniped his fourth less than two minutes later followed by Josh William's first of the season on a breakaway, sent in all alone by fellow veteran forward
Cyle McNabb.
After allowing five goals on 14 shots, Regina starter Justen Maric was replaced by Damon Cunningham for the final two periods.
The T-Birds tacked on another goal early in the second with
Liam Kindree's second of the season,
Josh Williams setting up the fifth-year on a centring feed.
Jaxon Steele finally got the Cougars on the board at the 6:30 mark of the second with his third of the season and second of the weekend, both on the power play.
Doust got the 'Birds to the converted touchdown at 10:43 of the third, going far side past Cunningham while shorthanded. It was the icing on the cake for a solid return to action for a veteran player that's had more than his fair share of injury troubles.
"He's a great player, we recruited him for a reason," Butenschon said of Doust. "His biggest issue has been his health and staying injury-free because over the years he's come in and taken steps and then he hits some bad luck. For him, the boys have seen how much he's had to persevere to get himself back and in sports and especially in hockey, it's like a family and you just love to see it."
Eric Houk unleashed a sharp wrister, bar down, with just 3:05 on the clock to make the score slightly more respectable for the visitors who were simply out-classed by the T-Birds who were at their best.
"I know the scores for them haven't been great, but that's one of the better Regina teams I've seen in a few years. They've made some nice plays, their power play moved around really well and looked good. They got a new coach there and they'll figure it out."
The T-Birds will now hit the road in back-to-back weekends, starting with a trip to Winnipeg to face the Bisons next Friday and Saturday, November 7 and 8, followed by a visit to Edmonton to battle the MacEwan Griffins.
"I see the challenge ahead of us, it's back-to-back road trips, it's going to Saskatoon, it's playing Alberta. You get the November blues, the west coast gets real dark, real rainy, school gets heavy, it's a real challenging month from my experience here. Combine that with the hard schedule and the hard opponents – we got our points this weekend and we just got to keep rolling."
