The University of Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team traveled to Calgary this weekend to play a two-game set against the Dinos. They swept the matchup, winning 3-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday.
The two wins bring the Bisons up to a .500 record at 4-3-1 and extends their winning streak to three games.
Friday night lights out
Special teams were an issue for the Bisons in their previous games, only scoring two power play goals in their first six contests. Manitoba put that to rest when they put two away on the power play on Friday.
The Dinos opened up the scoring through a power play marker of their own, coming off Chris Collins’s stick at 14:02 of the opening period. The Bisons responded with the man-advantage just over two minutes later as Shaq Merasty netted his third goal of the year.
It took six minutes into the third period for the Bisons to ultimately get the go-ahead goal. Captain Jordan DePape converted on another power play for the eventual game-winner, his fourth goal of the year.
Joel Schreyer then added an empty netter with two minutes left to seal the win for the Bisons.
Manitoba went 2-for-6 with the man advantage, a far cry from the poor showings previously. Rookie Justin Paulic stood tall in between the pipes, making 29 saves for the win.
Halloween thriller
The herd was looking to carry their momentum into Saturday’s showdown and did just that. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Merasty and Jesse Paradis. Calgary pulled one back late and the teams headed to the dressing room with Manitoba leading 2-1.
In the second period, Merasty scored his second goal of the night midway through. He notched three points on the weekend and looks to be heating up.
Calgary would score on the power play in the third, through Adam Kambeitz – his first on the year. Liam Bilton would restore the Bisons’ two-goal lead just two minutes later. The rookie is putting on a brilliant performance so far this year, notching four goals.
Former Saskatoon Blade Brett Stovin also bagged his fourth goal on the year with six minutes left in the game. Stovin is proving to be a great addition to the Bison squad, with six points in eight games currently.
Byron Spriggs put in a stellar performance in net making 32 saves.
DePape had quite the weekend, scoring the game-winning goal on Friday then adding three assists on Saturday. He leads the Bisons in scoringith 11 points and is sitting third in scoring in the Canada West conference.
The Bisons will stay on the road and head to Alberta again, this time to play the Golden Bears. The reigning CIS champions will be a tough test for Manitoba, despite their slow start thus far.
