LETHBRIDGE — The Lethbridge Pronghorns had ample opportunity to serve a little bit of redemption on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds for Friday night's rout, but the visiting side fought hard in the third to take down the Pronghorns 5 – 4.
Fans at the Nicholas Sheran Arena also sought that redemptive performance by their team to put a burr in the side of the Thunderbirds in their continued bid for a playoff berth, however it was UBC who came out on top in this back-and-forth tilt.
UBC's Matt Revel took home first star honours with the opening goal of the third period and go-ahead game-winning goal late in the frame, while Lethbridge's Luke Coleman scored his first Canada West hat-trick to secure second star honours on the afternoon. Quinn Benjafield rounds out the top honours with three assist effort.
Rylan Toth helped his team to victory by making 18 saves on 22 shots, while Taz Burman turned aside 40 of the 45 shots he faced in the losing effort.
The Thunderbirds' first period effort was much better overall, contrasting their opening efforts from Friday, but the Pronghorns came out of the opening frame with the advantage, netting two in the frame to UBC's single tally.
Lethbridge found the back of the net first, as a quick-thinking poke check by Spenser Jensen freed the puck to Luke Coleman, who dished the puck to Brooks Maxwell before entering the offensive zone. Coleman cut to the net to receive a Maxwell pass, backhanding it behind Toth for his first of the game.
UBC responded just over a minute later on a breakout play from their own zone. Quinn Benjafield skated the puck out of his zone before dumping it off to Joe Carvalho. Carvalho crossed into the Pronghorns zone, took a soft shot at the half-boards, and somehow found the back of the Burman net to tie the game.
The home side retook the lead inside the ten-minute mark of the frame on a quick-thinking short-handed play by Coleman, who won the defensive-zone faceoff back to Dalton Sward. Coleman broke forward into the neutral zone, Sward connected on the long pass, and Coleman took it around the defender to the net before backhanding above Toth and into the net for his second of the period.
Coleman's pair of goals allowed his side to hold on to the one-goal lead heading into the second frame, but it was UBC who had the 11 – 5 shots advantage in the frame.
Period two saw teams exchange goals following a chippy but unsubstantial first half of the frame. Lethbridge scored inside the final five minutes as Taylor Fisher's point shot was deflected past Toth by Coleman, whose hat-trick goal widened the lead for 93 seconds.
On the powerplay following a Jeff Rayman boarding penalty, Quinn Benjafield got the puck to Colton Keller on Burman's left, and Keller sent the puck through the low slot to Carter Popoff, who made no mistake to bury the biscuit past Burman.
The second frame fared much better for the Pronghorns, as they easily countered any momentum swings back into their favour through the period, nearly matching the UBC shots tally but trailed 11 – 9.
The third was clearly in the Thunderbirds favour, accruing a nine-shot period lead in the first five minutes, which was promptly followed by a powerplay goal by Matt Revel who deflected the Kehler slap-pass up and over Burman to tie the game once again.
Lethbridge restored their lead following a broken UBC breakout attempt, as Jared Janke set up Kyle Gordon for the give-and-go attempt with Ryan Chynoweth, and Gordon buried it behind a desperate Toth.
The Thunderbirds momentum allowed them to tie it up once again, as an offensive press and heavy screening in front of Burman allowed for the Jerret Smith shot to be tipped by Tyler Sandhu into the Pronghorns net.
UBC continued to roll as they would capture their first lead of the game less than two minutes later. Kehler's wrist shot was caught up in the skates of Coleman, and Revel was right there to take the puck and wire it top shelf.
Revel's second of the game capped off the three-goal third frame on a massive offensive effort by his side, on display through the 23 – 8 shots advantage.
Thanks to the Alberta Golden Bears (21-5-0, 42 pts) win over the Regina Cougars (8-15-3, 19 pts), Saturday's win propels the UBC Thunderbirds (8-13-5, 21 pts) into the final playoff spot with two games remaining. The Lethbridge Pronghorns (5-18-3, 13 pts) are now cemented in eighth place in the 2019/2020 Canada West regular season standings.
The Thunderbirds return home next weekend to take on the Mount Royal Cougars in what will be a crucial series with their playoff spot on the line. The Pronghorns head to Calgary to take on the Calgary Dinos in a home-and-home series to close out their season.
