Coming off a road sweep against the Mount Royal Cougars, the Bison men’s hockey team was looking to improve upon its spot in the Canada West standings when they took on the Calgary Dinos in Alberta this past weekend.
The Bisons opened up their game on Friday with a roar, as Jeremy Schappert opened the scoring just 3:49 into the contest, a lead that lasted through the duration of the period.
The match remained at 1-0 for the visitors until a five-minute major and game misconduct was given to Calgary’s Ryan Gillen for a check from behind. On the subsequent power play, James Henry and Brendan Rowinski scored power play goals that gave the Bisons a 3-0 lead after two. The teams traded goals in the third and the game ended 4-1 for Manitoba.
Saturday night saw a much tighter affair. Matthew Lowry and Tyler Feakes gave the Bisons a 2-0 lead, but the Dinos tied it in the third and sent the game to overtime. The extra period solved nothing, so the game came down to a shootout, in which Calgary keeper Jacob DeSerres stopped two of three shots while Jesse Deckert stopped just one, as Calgary prevailed by a 3-2 final score.
Jesse Deckert stopped 62 of 65 shots on the weekend, improving his save percentage to 92.2 per cent.
With the win and the overtime loss, the Bisons record stands at 4-3-1. Tied for fifth in the conference with UBC. The Bisons return home to play the winless Lethbridge Pronghorns at the Max Bell Arena on November 9 and 10.
