EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds (9-1-1) managed to pick up a point but saw their nine game win streak come to a crashing halt against the only team they've lost to previously this season, falling 5-4 in overtime to the host MacEwan Griffins (6-5-2) Friday night in downtown Edmonton.
Trailing 2-1 after one, the T-Birds twice rallied to tie the game before taking the lead on a
Josh Williams third period power play goal.
But Brett Bamber tied the game with less than two minutes remaining while Logan Dowhaniuk sniped the game winning tally just 43 seconds into overtime as the 'Birds suffer their first road loss of the season, and first loss period since their season opener against the same Griffins squad back on October 3.
"We were just a little bit off," said a frustrated UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon. "Last weekend we set a new standard for ourselves the way we played and even this week in practice, it was probably one of the best weeks of practice I've seen during my tenure at UBC. So, I was just sort of expecting us to get all four lines going, get the D going, everyone playing on their toes. I thought the first period we forced plays through the middle, turned too many pucks over, couldn't get into a rhythm and we made some really bonehead plays and they capitalized on them."
Following a scoreless opening period which saw the T-Birds outshoot the Griffins 15-5,
Cyle McNabb opened scoring for UBC at the 3:13 mark of the second, redirecting a
Jake Lee pass in the blue paint for his fourth of the season, extending his point streak to seven games.
But the see-saw affair had the Griffins find the equalizer less than three minutes later when Kadyn Chabot scored on the power play for his first of three on the night.
Chabot struck again at 11:02 on a deflection from the slot to give MacEwan their first lead of the game which they'd carry into the third.
Liam Kindree tied things up with his third of the season, a long-range wrister through traffic 4:28 into the final frame.
But the Griffins restored their lead when Chabot completed the hat trick at 7:07, taking advantage of a weak UBC clearing attempt. His initial shot was stopped by
Brett Mirwald but the rebound was collected by Vincent Scott who fed it back to Chabot, finishing for his ninth of the season.
Momentum seemed to shift clearly in the T-Birds' favour shortly after when
Ty Thorpe scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 8:14. The third-year forward turned on the jets to get onto a loose puck in the neutral zone and slipped the puck glove side past Zac Onyskiw.
Williams' third of the campaign, on the power play, gave UBC their first lead of the night at 15:29 with what seemed to be the potential dagger, only to have Bamber tie the game for a fourth time to force things beyond 60 minutes.
The 'Birds outshot the Griffins 44-24, won the special teams battle going 1-for-4 on the power play while killing off five of MacEwan's six man advantages along with Thorpe's shorthanded marker. Yet, the Griffins proved opportunistic for their second win against the 'Birds in three meetings.
"It's funny, every time we play this team it's a similar vibe," Butenschon said. "You feel like you have the puck, you're dominating, they're hanging on, and then you make a mistake and they burn you. Just a couple soft decisions and we just didn't have that desperation that we had last weekend. It's really frustrating."
The good news for UBC is they have the opportunity to come away with three of four points if they can replicate the bounce back Saturday they had in their season opening weekend.
"It's a veteran group, they're probably just as pissed off as I am. You get a chance to redeem yourself tomorrow."
Puck drop at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena Saturday is set for 2:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
