VANCOUVER – Carrying a one-goal lead into the third period, the Manitoba Bisons were unable to close on the road against the UBC Thunderbirds, as Austin Vetterl scored once in the third and again in double overtime to give the 'Birds a 2-1 win at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Trailing 1-0 late into the third, Vetterl finally broke rookie Manitoba goaltender Tyler Brown's shutout bid with exactly five minutes remaining with his sixth of the season.
After forcing double overtime, the 'Birds failed to score on a 4-on-3 power play opportunity, but with just 34 seconds remaining in 3-on-3 action, Vetterl sniped from the slot, beating Brown over his blocker to give the 'Birds back-to-back wins for the first time in 2020.
"It's huge, I'm proud of the guys for the third period, it wasn't an easy game," said UBC head coach Sven Butenschon. "In the third period we regrouped, we took a deep breath and everybody just rolled and we did the right thing one shift after another. We even said between the second and third period it's probably going to be an ugly goal to get us going and I'm just glad Austin gave it a shot from that bad angle and it went in and we finally got some luck in overtime as well."
Things got off to a rocky start for the home side who less than 24 hours earlier had dominated the Bisons in a 6-2 victory at the Winter Classic.
The Bisons earned their first power play chance of the game just 23 seconds in and it took all of 11 more for Colton Veloso to get the early lead. The second-year forward pounced onto a bouncing puck at the top of the crease and lifted it high into the net behind Rylan Toth for his team-leading eighth of the season.
Despite putting up more than 30 shots through the first 50 minutes of the game, the T-Birds were unable to get anything past Brown who finished with 40 saves in the losing effort.
Vetterl finally got the tying marker, benefitting from a friendly bounce when he chipped the puck towards the goal from below the line, banking it off the rookie netminder and in.
Just 16 seconds into double overtime, Manitoba's Keaton Jameson was called for a trip giving the 'Birds a coveted 4-on-3 man advantage. But the Bisons' penalty killers stepped up in a big way.
As the 'Birds drew closer to their second shootout in the last four games, a late shift in the offensive zone paid dividends. UBC captain Jerret Smith skated the puck around the zone, finding Vetterl at the side of the high slot. The fifth-year forward then drew the puck back to fake out a Manitoba defender before wristing his second game winner of the season against the Bisons.
The four-point weekend combined with a Regina loss Saturday to Mount Royal has the 'Birds alone in the sixth and final conference playoff berth, two ahead of Regina and six clear of last place Lethbridge. The Bisons remain in fifth place, three points ahead of UBC.
Manitoba hosts a critical weekend series against the Regina Cougars next weekend while the T-Birds head to Saskatoon for the first of two straight road series beginning with the second place Huskies Friday and Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place.
