Penalty parade costs Griffins dearly as they concede six PPGs to UBC in 8-3 defeat
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | UBC |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 2 for 6 | 6 for 11 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 13 (44) | 10 (36) |
| Shots on Goal | 23 | 47 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Five-on-five play was a rarity in a penalty-filled affair on Friday between two teams that met in the Canada West quarter-finals last season.
And that was a shame for the MacEwan Griffins, who conceded 10 powerplays to the best powerplay team in the conference, resulting in an 8-3 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds.
Six of UBC's goals were scored with the man advantage, while MacEwan also scored twice on the powerplay in a game that featured a combined 80 minutes in infractions between the squads.
"Just too many penalties," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey on what was their downfall. "They have the best powerplay in the league. Any time you take 10 penalties, there's no chance you're winning a hockey game.
"We have to find a way to stay out of the box tomorrow if we want to give ourselves a shot."
With the defeat, the Griffins fall back to .500 on the campaign (9-9-5) and are now a point behind Alberta (10-9-4) for second place in the West Division after their cross-town rivals beat Manitoba 4-3 on Friday night.
Sam Simard opened the scoring for the Griffins just 2:38 into the game when he crashed the net and converted an Ethan Sundar pass.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 31, 2026
Sam Simard opens the scoring in #YVR less than three minutes into the game!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/UqvotCKZ6r
Then the Thunderbirds struck for three-straight powerplay goals in a span of 9:46 by Sasha Mutala, Chris Douglas and Jace Weir.
But Sundar pulled MacEwan back within one before the first intermission when Liam Hughes fed him on a quick-developing two-on-one inside the UBC zone.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 31, 2026
Liam Hughes feeds Ethan Sundar for a huge late first-period goal that gets the @MacEwanGriffins back within one after 20 minutes.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/ukqhBk3pLK
Unfortunately for the Griffins, more penalty trouble befell them in the second period as UBC blew the game wide open with three more goals in a span of less than seven minutes (Weir, Josh Williams and Nathan Sullivan) – the latter two on the powerplay.
"Just a weird one where it was hard to find flow and rhythm to the game," said Dailey. "It seemed like you would get into a rhythm and then somebody would take a penalty and it would throw everything off. Guys were not playing for seven minutes and then all of a sudden (they are).
"It was just a really weird game with all the penalties. We've just got to find a way to stay out of the box tomorrow."
Vincent Scott scored a gorgeous goal in tight after Dwayne Jean Jr. fed him down low to get the Griffins back within three at 11:20 of the second.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 31, 2026
Great hands from Vincent Scott in tight after taking a nice pass from Dwayne Jean Jr. gets one back for the @MacEwanGriffins late in the second period.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/kbvrOSAaIH
But with 4:49 left in the second, Simard checked Mutala in the corner, shattering the glass, leading to a lengthy delay while it was repaired.
The teams returned to play the rest of the second and the third all in one chunk and it was more romp for UBC, who scored twice more (Williams and Jake Wright) to ice it.
If there was a positive in the contest for Dailey, it was when they stayed out of the box.
"I thought five-on-five we were pretty good," he said. "They're a very dynamic offensive team, especially off the rush and I thought we did an OK job off the rush. I thought when we got pucks behind their D and put pressure on them we had some decent O-zone time.
"So, I think five-on-five I liked some of the stuff we were doing. We just didn't play that enough."
The teams will meet again on Saturday (4 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
