VANCOUVER – A three-goal first period helped propel the Saskatchewan Huskies (6-1-0-0) to a big 6-3 road victory over the UBC Thunderbirds (3-2-0-0) on Friday night at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. UBC showed grit, cutting into multiple Saskatchewan leads, but the Huskies simply seemed to have an answer to every T-Birds attack.
It took just over two minutes for the Huskies to draw first blood. Carter Stebbings (1G) made UBC pay for an early Too Many Men penalty, notching his second goal of the season on a one-timer that deflected off of T-Birds second-year
Keaton Dowhaniuk, and past UBC goalie
Cole Schwebius (22 saves).
Saskatchewan defender Logan Bairos (2G) continued a hot start for his squad, potting his first two goals of the season on a pair of seeing-eye point shots, which extended his team's first-period lead to 3-0.
"We just looked like we hadn't played in two weeks" said T-Birds Head Coach
Sven Butenschon of his team's return to action after their bye week, "It was a battle in the first period just to anticipate and (get our) timing, and they came at us pretty hard."
Blistering starts are becoming a bit of a trend for Saskatchewan after tallying four goals in the first period of their previous game vs. Regina last weekend.
UBC responded late in the first period with captain
Ty Thorpe (1G, 1A) creating offence from a seemingly broken play, feeding rookie
Zeke Nicholson (1G) on a 2-on-1. Nicholson buried his second of the season past Huskies goalie Nolan Maier (31 saves), cutting the Huskie lead down to 3-1 after the opening 20 minutes.
The second period started much like the first, as a
Jake Wright slashing penalty gave the Huskies an early opportunity. Saskatchewan captain Liam Keeler (1G) made UBC pay on the ensuing powerplay, finishing off a nifty passing play for his fourth goal of the season. The Huskies' special teams edge ultimately proved costly for UBC. Saskatchewan went 2-for-4 on the powerplay, whilst UBC finished the game 1-for-5 on the advantage.
The Thunderbirds answered with a goal from their captain,
Ty Thorpe, cutting the lead to 4-2. But the Huskies seemed to have a response to every swing in momentum. Raphael Pelletier's team-leading fifth goal of the season restored the Huskies three-goal cushion, giving his team a 5-2 lead after 40-minutes.
"We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot" Coach Butenschon continued. "We claw back and get some momentum, and then one individual would make a poor play, and (Saskatchewan) make you pay."
Fifth-year T-Bird
Josh Williams tallied a late goal, striking with the extra attacker on the ice. But it was too little too late. Huskies forward Tyler Parr potted an empty-netter in the final-second of the game, earning his team a 6-3 decision, and adding insult to injury for UBC.
The two Canada West rivals face off again Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. (PT) with the UBC Thunderbirds looking for redemption after a tough home loss.
"I thought we owned the possession and the momentum for the second and third period, so we've just got to be able to do it right from the get-go," Coach Butenschon said, of the quick turnaround.
