Bisons score huge upset win over the golden bears
Offensive outburst in third helps snap skid
Romer Bautista Staff
Th e Manitoba Bisons snapped their four-game Canada West losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Alberta Golden Bears Saturday night at the Max Bell Centre.
Th e win is easily the biggest of the year thus far for the Bisons. Th e Golden Bears are the No.-2 ranked team in the nation, and they had victorious in all three previous meetings with the Bisons this season, including a 3-2 win Friday night.
“Anytime you can knock off the No. 2 team in the nation, it’s a huge win,” said Bisons defenceman Jared Lang.
Chris Falloon used the manadvantage to score the game-winner 38 seconds into the third period. Th e goal was Falloon’s eighth of the season, fourth on the power play, giving him a share of the team lead in both categories.
Half a minute later, the Bisons rode the wave of momentum from that goal to get on the scoreboard again. Rob Smith got his second assist of the game, as he setup a streaking Stewart Th iessen all alone for a break away goal.
Richard Wood put the game away with 1:46 left in the game, converting on a beautiful two-on-one with Dustin Hughes.
Th at was all the off ence that Krister Toews and the Bisons defence needed. Th e netminder made 25 saves in the game. Th e only Alberta goal was a Tim Krymusa power-play marker 1:11 into the second period.
After that goal, Toews was sensational, putting an end to any hope for a Golden Bears comeback. Toews shut the door on Canada West’s highest-scoring team, including two huge stops with fi ve minutes remaining in the game.
Helping the cause was team captain Rob Smith and the Bisons defence. Smith was a force all night, forcing Alberta’s high-scoring forward and Canada West’s leading point scorer, Ben Kilgour, into what was easily his worst game of the year. Kilgour was held off the score sheet, and attempted only one shot on goal.
Toews’ counterpart, Aaron Sorochan, facing power play pressure all night, had 28 saves in the loss.
Th e game entered the fi nal period with the teams deadlocked at 1-1.
With the team in a dogfi ght to make the playoff s, the Bisons were aware of how important this victory would be. Th ey came out of the second intermission with a strong sense of urgency, and determination.
“All the guys were getting ready for the third period. It was pretty much a 0-0 game. We knew what we had to do to come out on top,” Lang said of the team’s preparation. “We had to bury our chances.”
After missing on several easy scoring chances in Friday night’s loss, the Bisons were a much more opportunistic team in Saturday’s tilt. Th e team went 2-6 with the man advantage, including Nolan Walker’s goal 4:36 in the fi rst period with the Bisons enjoying a five-on-three power play.
The win moves the Bisons record to 8-11-1, good enough for the final playoff spot, but a mere one point ahead of the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
Th is sets up a key two-game series this weekend in Lethbridge, Alta.. When the Bisons hosted the Pronghorns for a two-game weekend series earlier in the season, the Bisons walked away with a sweep.
To have the same success this time around, the team will need the same off ensive output the team displayed in November. In the two-game set, the Bisons peppered Pronghorns goalie John Haggis continually, scoring eight goals. Falloon played a large role in the two wins, scoring three goals in that weekend.
