VANCOUVER – Chris Douglas and Scott Atkinson both had career-high five point nights as the UBC Thunderbirds scored three times in the third to defeat the visiting Manitoba Bisons 6-4, extending their season-long win streak to five games.
Tied 3-3 heading to the final period, Tian Rask deflected a Conner McDonald point shot midway through the frame to give the 'Birds (13-6-2) their second lead of the game.
But a determined Bisons squad, needing a win to leapfrog the Regina Cougars into the conference's final playoff berth, tied the game yet again on a Parker Malchuk power play goal with less than four minutes to play.
With overtime looming, it should have come as no surprise the two teams – who combined for 25 goals in their two-game series in Winnipeg back in October – weren't done scoring in regulation. With 1:40 on the clock, Douglas won a puck battle in the Bisons' corner and fed it to Atkinson who wristed his second of the game and ninth of the season past Ross Hawryluk's glove for what stood up as the game winner.
Douglas added an empty netter to seal his five point effort with 0.8 seconds on the clock as the 'Birds clinched the season series win over the Bisons who dropped their fifth straight.
The Bisons (7-13-1) had as good a start to the first as any road team could hope for, staking out a 2-0 lead by the middle of the period. Dylan Thiessen and Noah Basarab scored just 46 seconds apart to stun the T-Birds and a sizeable home crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
But just 1:18 after Basarab's second of the season, Atkinson buried on the backhand off a Douglas rebound to cut the visitors' lead in half.
Ending the first period with a 19-10 edge in shots, the T-Birds picked up right where they left off in the second when Cyle McNabb and Jake Lee scored less than two minutes apart to take their first lead of the game.
McNabb's tenth of the season came via a deflection off a Douglas spinning shot from the slot. Lee's go-ahead goal at the 7:12 mark on the power play was a thing of beauty, dragging past a Bison penalty killer before wristing the puck over Hawryluk's shoulder, short side for his team-leading 12th.
But before the period was out the Bisons evened things up with a power play goal of their own when Thiessen converted on a high-tip from a Jonny Hooker pass to the slot, setting up the wild final frame.
Atkinson, Douglas and McNabb's line combined for 12 total points while also setting the tone and providing the team with some much needed energy at key moments.
The win allowed the 'Birds to leapfrog the Saskatchewan Huskies into the fourth and final home playoff berth while also pulling within one point of clinching a postseason spot which they can accomplish with a win Saturday afternoon. The Bisons are still in the thick of the playoff race, just one point behind Regina for the sixth and final spot. Manitoba holds the season series advantage against teh U of R.
Kaeden Lane made 26 saves, picking up the win in net for his fifth victory in as many starts.
