LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds (18-2-3) have officially clinched first place in the Canada West Conference's west division with a wild 5-4 victory over the Trinity Western Spartans (3-18-2) Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre.
Trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, the T-Birds scored three times within a 3:20 span in the third period to re-take the lead before fending off a furious late Spartans charge.
If not for a fantastic goaltending performance by Raphael Audet, the game could have been decided far earlier as the T-Birds put up a program record 68 shots on goal.
"I thought we had a great first period and an amazing third period, but you got to be able to put 60 minutes together to be a legitimate team," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, following his squad's 34
th straight win over the Spartans. "We took a few lumps there in the second, they capitalized on mistakes, we got a little bit soft defensively. We weren't really digging in on situations and they were able to execute on their changes."
Jake Lee got the T-Birds off to a dream start with his 12
th of the season just 52 seconds after puck drop, the fourth-year defenceman's 100
th career Canada West point.
Christian Lowe scored his first of two on the night midway through the period to even the score but
Reilley Kotai responded late in the period with his eighth of the campaign to restore UBC's lead heading to the break.
Despite outshooting the Spartans by a 25-11 margin in the second, the only two goals of the period came off Trinity Western sticks as Danylo Korzhyletskiy tied things up 2-2 on the power play at 7:20, followed by a Aiden Knutson shorthanded tally at 16:32.
The T-Birds were given a tremendous opportunity to answer early in the third when the Spartans were called on back-to-back puck-over-glass delay of game minors, putting the conference's leading power play on a 98 second two-man advantage.
Chris Douglas did find the equalizer with his 13th of the season on the 5-on-3, kickstarting UBC's onslaught.
Logan Doust got the 'Birds back out front just over two minutes later, taking a cross-seam pass from Kotai and knifing in his third of the season.
Another T-Birds power play saw
Scott Atkinson spin and fire from close range for his ninth and a two-goal UBC advantage still with half the final period remaining.
Lowe got one back with just over four minutes remaining while Trinity got a massive power play opportunity of their own late in the third, eventually putting Audet on the bench for the 6-on-4 advantage which UBC was able to fend off to secure their third straight victory and fifth this season vs the Spartans.
12 different T-Bird skaters found the scoresheet Thursday night in another complete offensive effort.
"Nice to see the depth come through when you're playing a team like Trinity, you want to wear them down," Butenschon said. "We play them again tomorrow night so everything you do tonight really matters for tomorrow. The fact we were able to contribute from all lines and all aspects of the game was important and that's what we're going to need if we want to do any damage in the playoffs."
Friday night's final battle this season against the Spartans so happens to also feature UBC's annual Winter Classic with a packed Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre expected to only add fuel to the emotional fire on the ice.
"We're going to expect it to be just as difficult, just as challenging. We might face some adversity so we just got to be prepared for it and stick to the game plan and believe in each other. We've done it enough over the years that when we need a guy to step up and make a skill play in a tight game we're able to do it, so we're expecting the same thing tomorrow for sure."
Tickets for the biggest indoor game on campus this year are still available
HERE! Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
