VANCOUVER – From opening puck drop to the final whistle it was all UBC as the host UBC Thunderbirds earned a convincing season opening 5-1 win over the Alberta Golden Bears Friday night at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.

In front of a crowd more than 2000 strong, the 'Birds scored three times on the power play, two of them from third year forward Tian Rask. Liam Kindree had a trio of assists, Sasha Mutala and Jake Lee both also had multi-point nights while Kaeden Lane earned the win in goal making 26 saves, 12 of them in the final frame.

The crowd was able to get in on the excitement early when second year defenceman Jake Lee opened scoring just 4:53 into the first. After the Bears failed to clear their zone, Lee sent a point shot toward the goal that deflected off an Alberta defenceman and past Ethan Kruger.

UBC got into penalty trouble early in the second with Alberta enjoying a lengthy two-man advantage. But the visitors weren't able to capitalize. In fact, after killing off the first minor to get back to 5-on-4, the T-Birds had a couple of glorious chances including a Josh Williams shot that rang off the post.

After getting back to five-on-five, Tian Rask jammed home a loose puck on a goalmouth scramble for the first of two on the night.

Alberta answered at the 10:27 mark with what turned out to be their only goal of the game. Right off an offensive zone faceoff, Justin Ball pulled the puck back to his brother Adam who quickly sniped past Lane to get back within one.

But just as the visitors sniffed a chance to title momentum firmly back in their favour, the T-Birds struck again, less than two minutes later. Sasha Mutala finished off a Sam Huo pass with a one-timer blast on 5-on-3 power play.

Still on the man advantage, Rask earned his second of the game just 68 seconds later when he deflected a puck past Kruger's right pad.

UBC finished the game 3-for-7 on the power play while killing off all nine Alberta opportunities in a masterclass of special teams play. 

The icing on the cake came in the third period when defenceman Conner McDonald joined a 2-on-1 with Mutala and scored his first goal since the 2021-22 season.

It may just be one game down in a long season but it was an impressive one for UBC who earned their first four-plus goal margin of victory against the Bears in well over a decade.

Saturday's rematch between the two Canada West powers is set for 3:00 p.m. PT at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre with the Bears looking to avoid a rare weekend series sweep.