Using a strong defensive game, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds men's hockey team rolled into Wayne Fleming Arena against the University of Manitoba Bisons and earned a key victory to keep their playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win on Friday, February 14.

The Thunderbirds came out skating, using passing to get themselves on the board. The T-Birds moved the puck around nicely to set up an Anthony Bardaro wrist shot that went off goalie Joe Caligiuri's glove and over his shoulder with just enough on it to cross the line to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0 just 4:12 into the game. 3:10 later, UBC would double their lead when an errant Aaron Lewadniuk pass behind his own net took a funny bounce to end up in the slot in front of Joe Caligiuri where Joe Antilla had space and time to fire a shot over Caligiuri's right shoulder for the 2-0 lead.

The visitors continued their offensive outburst early in the second period as Cole Wilson caught a break when the puck hopped over the stick of Manitoba's Pierre Landry at the blue line, and Wilson was off to the races. He made no mistake going low glove-side on Caligiuri, and UBC had a 3-0 lead just 5:40 into the second period.

The Herd would thunder back, though. Just 18 seconds after the UBC goal, Aaron Lewadniuk tipped Manitoba captain Dane Crowley's shot over T-Bird goaltender Steven Stanford's shoulder to cut the deficit to 3-1. And Crowley would add a second assist to his point total 3:55 later as he hit a streaking Jordan DePape down the wing, and the Bisons rookie would convert on his own blocked slot, lasering a wrist shot over Stanford's glove to make it 3-2. However, the Thunderbirds would retire to the dressing room up two goals once again as Brad Hoban converted a beautiful between-the-legs pass from Geordie Wudrick on the power play to make it 4-2.

The T-Birds settled into their defensive shell in the third period, limiting the Bisons on most chances. With 1:07 remaining in the game, UBC's Greg Fraser would ice the game with an empty-net goal to give the Thunderbirds the 5-2 victory on Valentine's Day!

"We gave up two horrendous turnovers tonight that led to two UBC goals," Bisons head coach Mike Sirant said after the game. "We fell right into their hands after that. Tomorrow, we need to play with a sense of urgency. We need to have some desperation. We can't expect this to be easy, and we need to come ready to play tomorrow.

Game time is 6 p.m. CT tomorrow at Wayne Fleming Arena with playoff spots on the line for both teams as Manitoba can still clinch fourth place in the Canada West conference while UBC can secure a coveted post-season berth.