WINNIPEG, Man. – In another dominant performance, the UBC Thunderbirds (9-1) extended their win streak to nine games with a 7-4 victory over the host Manitoba Bisons (4-5-1) Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.
Sasha Mutala scored twice to record his third straight multi-point game,
Cyle McNabb finished with three points in his hometown as the T-Birds outshot the Bisons 42-21 in yet another emphatic statement of offensive prowess.
"We were extremely sharp and on point again today," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, after his team swept the season series with Manitoba. "I was so impressed with our first ten minutes because a lot of times it's hard to replicate a game like last night. We went out and really, really challenged the guys to bring energy right off the hop with the two o'clock turnaround, and we did. You really have to give our guys credit for not resting on their laurels from the night before and not being tired and coming out and playing on their toes, getting on the forecheck and initiating the pace of play."
After picking up his first point of the season the night prior, veteran defenceman
Matthew Smith opened scoring for UBC with his first goal of the campaign less than three minutes after puck drop.
Fellow blue liner
Kayden Sadhra-Kang doubled the T-Birds' advantage late in the period with his second of the season, setting the stage for an even more dominant second period.
UBC captain
Chris Douglas scored the first of four T-Bird goals in the frame at the 4:09 mark with his fifth of the year and third of the weekend.
McNabb extended the lead to 4-0 at 13:39 with his third, followed by a pair of power play goals late in the frame from Mutala and
Nathan Sullivan, scored less than a minute apart.
"We were so good in the defensive zone it really helped us in the transition through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone," Butenschon said of his team's effort the whole weekend through. "Today was similar, really tidy in the D zone, kept them to the outside, didn't really have any heavy shifts in the D zone. It's pretty cool to see a team with a lot of offensive success but not really cheating on offence or not forcing it or taking any chances, we're just making the right play."
Up 6-0 and with the game essentially already in hand, the T-Birds found themselves in penalty trouble in the third.
Zach Turner got the Bisons on the board with his first of the season at the 6:21 mark, the first of four straight Manitoba tallies which cut UBC's lead to just two with just over three minutes remaining.
The 'Birds were called for five straight minor penalties, Manitoba scoring on three of them within a 2:40 span as Ben Bonni, Eric Alaire, and Luke Brenton all found the back of the net.
With some momentum but little time remaining, the Bisons put Matthew Kieper on the bench for the extra attacker only to have Mutala ice the game by hitting the empty net with his second of the afternoon and seventh of the season.
Cole Schwebius made 17 saves to pick up his fourth win of the year.
11 different skaters found the scoresheet for UBC Saturday, five of them with multi-point games. 16 T-Birds earned at least a point over the weekend as UBC now leads the Canada West with 55 goals through just 10 games.
"We talked a lot going into the weekend about using our depth. It's been a strong suit of ours the last few years but against a team like Manitoba that's added some really high end players, I think what you saw this weekend was a team that broke the other by just rolling over four lines."
The 'Birds continue playing on the road when they head to Edmonton to face the MacEwan Griffins Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15 before finally returning home to play the Alberta Golden Bears the following weekend.
