Cara Wooster slips the puck past the Thunderbirds’ goalie to help the Dogs bring home a 5-4 win.

The number two nationally ranked Huskies men’s hockey squad improved their winning streak to five games. They beat the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in two games on back-to-back nights Oct. 26 and 27 at Father David Bauer Arena in Vancouver and remain in first place in the Canada West.

In the first game of the weekend the Dogs fought back after trailing twice in the game to eventually beat the T-Birds 5-4, picking up goals from Matthew Spafford, Andrew Bailey, Michael Kaye, Chris Durand and Brennan Bosch.

A pair of early shots from UBC beat Huskies goaltender Ryan Holfeld, giving the team an early two goal advantage. But three unanswered goals by the Huskies late in the first period, including two goals 16 seconds apart, temporarily swung the momentum to Saskatchewan’s side.

Late in the second period, however, UBC’s Scott Wasden tapped in a loose puck to tie the game. Only a few minutes later the Thunderbirds would regain the lead after Kevin Smith notched a powerplay marker on the team’s fifth man-advantage of the night.

The Dogs were resilient though, scoring a powerplay goal to tie the game in the third and picking up a late short-handed goal from Brennan Bosch to seal the victory.

In the second game of the night the Huskies came out strong and were led by third-year forward Craig McCallum, who potted two goals and an assist in the Huskies 5-1 defeat of the Thunderbirds.

Holfeld stopped 24 out of 25 shots in the win while UBC’s goalie Jordan White saved 22 of the 27 shots that came his way.

The win brings the Huskies to 7-1 and four points ahead of the next closest team in the standings race. UBC drops to 4-3-1 with loss and sits fifth.

The Huskies will have a bye week Nov. 2 and 3 to rest up before returning to action Nov. 9 and 10 in a home-and-home series with the Regina Cougars.

Women’s Huskies swept by UBC

The Huskies women’s hockey team fell twice and were swept in two games Oct. 26 and 27 while hosting the UBC Thunderbirds in Rutherford Rink. The pair of losses results in the Huskies dropping to last place in the league.

Thunderbird Rebecca Unrau tallied a goal 2:23 into overtime on the power play to give her team the 5-4 victory over the Dogs Oct. 26.

Unrau and the T-Birds were given the man advantage in the extra frame after defenceman Brooke Mutch was penalized for body checking. Unrau beat Huskies goalie Cassidy Hendricks 27 seconds into the power play.

Special teams made the difference in the game for the Thunderbirds in regulation time as well. They scored two power-play goals and two short-handed goals to bring the game to overtime.

The Huskies goals came from Danny Stone, Cara Wooster, Sara Greschner and rookie forward Rachel Johnson.

The second match was another close game but again the Huskies came up short, losing 3-2.

The Dogs were up 2-0 by the end of the first period thanks to goals from Wooster and Julia Flinton.

Their lead evaporated in the second period. UBC scored two goals 14 seconds apart and Kaitlin Imai scored the winner for the T-Birds with just under three minutes to play in the final frame.

The Huskies’ record drops to 1-5-2, a record that doesn’t accurately describe their play this season. Five of the Huskies seven losses have been by a single goal.

The team will try to regroup and get out of the league’s basement Nov. 2 and 3 in a home-and-home series against Regina. The first game is in Regina while the second is at Rutherford Rink on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

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Photo: Calvin So