Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Given that the second period was one of the best the MacEwan Griffins have played all season, it seems incredibly odd to say that's where the game turned against them on Friday night.
Unable to get more than one past UBC goaltender Kaeden Lane during a dominant middle frame when they outshot the Thunderbirds 17-8 ultimately proved costly when the visitors roared back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in double overtime.
"I thought the difference was the second period," said Griffins interim head coach Zack Dailey. "We had a whole bunch of pressure. Their goalie made a bunch of big saves for them. We had a chance to kind of put them away and get a bit of a lead there and we didn't execute."
With the overtime point, the Griffins improve to 8-14-1, but are now a point behind Regina (8-13-2) for the final playoff spot after the Cougars upset Alberta 3-2 in overtime on the other side of town. UBC is at 15-6-2, solidly in fourth in the Canada West men's hockey standings.
"At the end of the day, we got a point, which is important in our battle for the playoff race," said Griffins forward Marc Pasemko, who was flying all night. "It sucks that we didn't get two, but we could have come away with nothing.
"It's unfortunate we blew another third-period lead, but we just need to learn as a team to not sit back and continue to take it to them. We had a really good second period. They came out (in the third) and scored, things happened, and we just didn't respond the way we needed to."
Zach Webb celebrates after opening the scoring in the first period on Friday (Rebecca Chelmick photo).
After Zach Webb put the Griffins up 1-0 after 20 minutes, potting a rebound off Spencer McLean's shot - set up by Nic Correale stripping a UBC defender of the puck - the Griffins got an unlikely tally from Hunter Donohoe to take a 2-0 lead 2:38 into the second period.
The Griffins' D-man juked a defender, crossed the blueline and just threw a random shot through a defenceman that eluded Lane glove side to put MacEwan up 2-0.
M��|��GOAL!
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) January 28, 2023
It never hurts to shoot the puck!
Hunter Donohoe throws a little move at the line before potting his second of the @CanadaWest season to put @MacEwanHockey up 2-0 on @ubctbirds early in the second.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/w57NLQjKVG
As if wanting to atone for the soft tally, Lane did hard time and penance by facing a Griffins onslaught for the next 17 minutes with a brave face, stopping multiple one-timers, including robbing Merritt Oszytko and Jordan Taupert on back-to-back point blank powerplay chances.
Lane was spectacular in that stretch, although he got some help from his crossbar when David Kope nearly scored six minutes into the middle frame. He finished with 31 saves for UBC.
Ashton Abel , who made 37 saves for MacEwan, was equally up to the task, taking a shutout bid into the third period, despite facing a penalty shot and a handful of breakaways.
M��| Penalty shot alert!@ubctbirds awarded a penalty shot with no time on the clock at the end of the first period, but Ashton Abel has the angle and Jake Lee's shot finds iron.@MacEwanHockey leads 1-0 after 20 minutes of @CanadaWest action.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/Ue14m36MIn
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) January 28, 2023
Finally, the T-Birds beat him 1:05 into the final frame when Sam Huo finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play from Jonathan Smart and Josh Williams that Abel had no chance on.
Keeping up the pressure in the third, the Thunderbirds earned the equalizer with 7:39 remaining when Ryan Pouliot's shot went off crease-crasher Sasha Mutala and trickled across the line.
"In the third period, we came out flat," said Dailey. "They wanted it worse than we did in the third, and it showed. They came out hard and we weren't ready to respond.
"We gave up two goals and then we woke up and started playing. In this league, especially against these top teams, you can't give them any time and space."
After 6:33 of tentative overtime play with no real chances, UBC got the break it needed when MacEwan turned over the puck inside the T-Birds blueline and, with three-on-three hockey, that means an odd-man rush the other way. Smart made no mistake, blasting a left-wing shot past Abel for the win.
If there was a positive to take out of it besides the point for the Griffins, it's that the level they played at in the second period would put heat on any team in U SPORTS.
"It looked great," said Dailey. "I was very impressed. That looked like a team who wanted it, who was hungry and desperate. We won races to pucks and we won one-on-one battles when we got there. So, that's a positive. We need to bring that same energy tomorrow and hope for a better result."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
