EDMONTON, Alta. – The UBC Thunderbirds (22-2-3) scored five unanswered goals, four of them in the third period, to earn a 7-3 win over the Alberta Golden Bears (10-11-4) Friday night at Clare Drake Arena.
The victory extends the No. 2 ranked 'Birds' win streak to seven while setting a new program record for points in a single season now with 47 heading into Saturday's final contest before the coming Canada West playoffs.
"It was an intense hockey game, the building was rocking. They played on their toes, they played with a lot of desperation," said UBC head coach,
Sven Butenschon, of the Bears who are in a fierce battle for second in the division. "You could see that team was fighting for playoff positioning and we were second on a lot of situations because of it. In the third period we were able to just elevate and that's when we started getting in on every situation first, beating them to loose pucks. When we're at our best I don't think anyone can touch us."
After Dylan Ruptash put the Golden Bears ahead, 3-2 early in the second with his second of the game,
Ty Thorpe answered with his second of the night for the equalizer at 18:09, setting the stage for a dominant final 20 minutes by the T-Birds.
The eventual game winner came 1:55 into the third when
Ben Kotylak swiped in a loose puck in the low slot for his second of the season.
"The third period was fun to coach because we were pushing and we were doing everything right, but it wasn't happening," Butenschon said. "The clock was ticking down and then the fourth line got that goal for us and the bench just went crazy."
Reilley Kotai unleashed a wicked wrister on the power play for his 11
th of the season at 11:54 while
Jake Lee added two more on the man advantage within a 61 second span, the first of which was a gorgeous end-to-end rush culminating with his 13
th of the campaign, a roof job past Drew Sim.
Sasha Mutala was held to a single assist on the night but expanded his lead atop the Canada West scoring race to five points over Calgary's Adam Kydd. That lone assist is Mutala's 31
st of the season, setting a new program record dating back to the 1988-89 season, courtesy of Grant Delcourt.
Playing in his penultimate regular season game as a T-Bird, UBC captain
Chris Douglas opened scoring shorthanded at the 8:53 mark of the opening period. His team-leading 16
th of the season also stands as the sixth shorthanded goal of his Canada West career, pulling him back into a tie with fellow fifth-year
Cyle McNabb for the all-time program record.
Having already set the program's point record, the T-Birds can reach a new bar for wins in a season with a victory Saturday as Friday night's result matched UBC's previous high water mark of 22 set in 2023-24.
The final battle of the regular season for the T-Birds will also be the final contest of any sort until they open up the Canada West semifinals at home on February 27, all the more reason to head into the post-season on a positive note.
"You're looking at 20 days between tomorrow and when we touch the ice for the Canada West semifinals to book your ticket to nationals. So, it's not an ideal path but the messaging we're sending is, the next time we're on the ice it's going to be really impactful so you might as well go out there tomorrow and treat it like it's a playoff game so you can get to that level a little bit easier."
Puck drop for UBC's regular season finale – and opportunity to earn the season series sweep over Alberta – is set for 6:00 p.m. PT. The game will be available
live on Canada West TV.
