VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds scored six unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday afternoon, sweeping the weekend series and vaulting into sole possession of first place in the Canada West.
Despite trailing 3-0 midway through the opening period, the T-Birds battled back to get within a goal by the end of the frame and went on to score four times in the third, sweeping a two-game set against the Huskies for the first time since January 2018.
That goal came at the 15:54 mark of the first after the Huskies scored three times within a five minute span to stake out a 3-0 lead, two of them on the power play and another shorthanded.
After Dawson Holt was called for interference to give the T-Birds a two-man advantage, Jonathan Smart rifled in his fourth of the season from the top of the left circle to get UBC on the board. It not only stemmed the bleeding from earlier in the game, but it breathed life into what has been a listless power play of late.
Less than a minute later, Cyle McNabb scored a potential goal of the year candidate with a tremendous solo rush ending with his third of the season. Conner McDonald sent the puck from along the neutral zone boards to McNabb in flight. The rookie forward burst past a pair of Huskies before slipping the puck past Travis Child who got a piece of it with his glove, but not enough, as the T-Birds cut the deficit to just one heading into the break.
Still down 3-2 well into the third, Matt Revel tied the game with his first of two on the afternoon when he deflected a Ryan Pouliot blast from the point past Child exactly nine minutes in.
Just 67 seconds later, the T-Birds took their first lead of the game when Chris Douglas beat Child five-hole from the right hash mark with his team-leading sixth of the year.
That marked the end of the night for Child as Huskies Head Coach Mike Babcock put Roddy Ross between the pipes.
But the T-Birds just kept coming as Revel struck again with another deflection at the 13:18 mark, this time on the power play from the mid-slot on a Smart slap shot.
The Huskies put Ross on the bench with just under three minutes remaining in a last ditch effort down by two. But Tian Rask found the empty net from about 160 feet, putting the game on ice with his fifth.
Once again, the 'Birds outshot the Huskies in the final period, holding the visitors to just six in the final 20 minutes.
Both teams ended the game 2-for-6 on the power play while special teams played a big role in the opening period that saw Gordie Ballhorn and Justin Ball both connect on the man advantage while Donovan Neuls scored his second of the season short handed at the 13:07 mark, the first time the T-Birds have allowed a goal against while on the power play this season.
UBC closes out the first semester with a pair of games against the TWU Spartans in Langley next Thursday and Saturday while the Huskies finish the first half at home next weekend to the Mount Royal Cougars.
