Huskies hold off furious T-Bird rally to take game one of CW semifinal

Recap by UBC Sports Information

VANCOUVER – Playoff hockey is never meant to be easy, and both teams can likely come away with that same feeling Friday night, although the Saskatchewan Huskies certainly have more spring in their step as the visitors held on for a 3-2 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds in game one of their Canada West semifinal.

If not for one of the most spectacular saves anyone in the building had ever seen by Huskie netminder Nolan Maier with 40 seconds remaining on the clock, the game likely would have been headed to overtime. The rookie netminder stopped Ty Thorpe and was somehow able to get across with his glove to snag a rebound chance from Alex Serraglio who had nothing but net in front of him, until he didn't. 

The 'Birds had already scored once with the extra attacker in their late comeback bid but just couldn't manage to get another past Maier as UBC now faces a must-win game two Saturday night. 

"He's been dialled in for sure every game in the playoffs and he's been getting better and better every week," said Saskatchewan head coach, Brandin Cote. "He was great tonight. When we really needed one to keep it in our favour, he came up with that – that's an all-time save right there." 

It was the exclamation mark on a highly entertaining final period that saw the Huskies score twice in the first eight minutes to stake out a 3-0 lead. Conner Roulette tallied his second of the game and fourth of the playoffs 2:15 into the frame on a rebound off a Chantz Petruic shot stopped by UBC's Brett Mirwald.

Ethan Regnier's first of the playoffs snuck five-hole past Mirwald at 7:54, a goal that sucked a lot of air out of the building.

But UBC captain Chris Douglas brought the 'Birds back to life on the power play with a spectacular end-to-end rush at 9:49, weaving through multiple Huskie penalty killers before finishing on his forehand for his 12^th career playoff goal.

Finally getting on the board completely changed the rest of the period which was mostly tilted in UBC's favour. 

Mirwald was called to the bench for a sixth skater still with four minutes left but UBC needing a pair of goals, one they'd get off Scott Atkinson at 16:37. The veteran forward quite literally took one for the team when a Jake Lee point shot grazed off his upper body.

Despite the intense UBC pressure, Maier's showstopping glove ensured the Huskies head to game two of the best-of-three series with a chance to eliminate the Thunderbirds for the second straight season come Saturday night.

"I liked how we got into the crease and made it a little uncomfortable for him the last ten minutes. We got to do that more right from the get go tomorrow," said UBC head coach, Sven Butenschon who liked his team's game more as it progressed. "I thought away from the puck, we were in good spots throughout the whole game, I can't say anything bad about that. Just the puck touches, the sense of where to put pucks – that's where we just didn't have it tonight. It's playoff hockey and that's a great team over there. They played really well defensively and they had a great goaltender. It's not going to be easy." 

"They started to get their legs kind of back under them as the game went on but they pushed," Cote added. "I thought our guys were composed and we did what we needed to do to find a way to win and obviously Nolan was a big part of that."

Puck drop for game two of the Canada West semifinal is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre with game three – if necessary – slated for 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 1.

Tickets are available online now or at the door with the game also streamed live on Canada West TV - Powered by BioSteel.