The U of M Bisons men’s hockey team went all out against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Wayne Fleming Arena. The Bisons held the Huskies to a 3-3 draw in regulation time, with each period ending in a tie, before losing 4-3 in a shootout.

Prior to the game, the Bisons were only one point out from a top three spot in Canada West’s East Division, and five points beneath the Huskies. Although records show that the Bisons have not won a game in their encounters against the Huskies in the last two years, the Bisons were ready to break the winning streak.

The game began with great intensity as though both teams were playing their last. However, despite the intensity, no goal was recorded in the first period. At the end of the first period, the Bisons had 12 shots on goal while the Huskies had 11. The tie continued in the second period until Riley Stotts scored the opener at 6:04 minutes. The goal did not last long before Vince Loschiavo scored an equalizer at 7:56 minutes.

Less than three minutes later, Jonny Hooker made it two for the Bisons and they kept the lead until the final two minutes of the second period. Carter Stebbings scored the second goal for the Huskies to make the score 2-2. The Bisons were ahead of the Huskies twice in the game. The second period ended with the Huskies making more attempts, having taken 16 shots while the Bisons took 12 shots.

The third period began with higher intensity, and at 13:10 minutes Ben Tkachuk made it three for the Huskies during a power play. For the first time in the game, they were ahead of the Bisons.

In the final two seconds of the game, Skyler Bruce flicked the puck to the back of the net to put the Bisons back into the game. Similarly, the third period ended in a 3-3 draw.

Five minutes of overtime was insufficient for the two teams to find a winner and the game proceeded to a shootout.

Ultimately, the Huskies reigned with a 2-1 win victory after the shootout.

In a post-game interview with Bruce, he commended the pass that led to the last second goal — earning the Bisons a very crucial point. “I think [Saskatchewan] got a little disconnected with two seconds left,” said Bruce. “And I was fortunate to be alone in front of the net.” Also, speaking on his no-look pass to Hooker that led to his team’s second goal, he said, “I think it was kind of a fumble play I had at the blue line, but luckily Jonny was there to help me out and then I think I won the battle in the corner.” He continued, “Jonny picked the guy and then I was fortunate. And then I got, I don’t know what happened to their [defenceman], but I kind of beat him off the wall, looked off Zapper and then a backhand pass to Hook who finished it.”

The Bisons men’s hockey coach Gordon Burnett referred to the overtime point as “a point we needed.”

Burnett talked about the qualities of the Huskies’ and his team’s performance. “Yeah, they have a really, really good hockey team over there,” Burnett said. “They’re deep. It’s a conversation going into every time we play them, how we’re going to match up against them. It’s a concern just with their depth. And they play a really good hockey game. They’re well coached. And for us, it’s just about trying to be above our check and make sure that we don’t give them too much. They created chances.”

“[Braden Holt] played really good for us and he kept us in it and gave us a chance,” said Burnett. “To get a point against a team like that is big for us and our confidence. And we’ll make sure that the guys know that, you know they have tomorrow night, it’s all about tomorrow afternoon now, we come back at one o’clock. They have seven fresh players coming in from the stands and we have two. So it’ll be a different game tomorrow. They’ll have seven fresh bodies in the lineup. But that doesn’t take anything away from tonight. We’re really happy to get a point against a really good hockey team, we feel fortunate and we hope we can do that again,” he stated.

In regard to the shootout and selection of players that took part, Burnett noted, “we’ve done a couple of shootouts at practice. So, we’re watching them. And we just feel we go with the guys that we feel they can score.”

The Bisons faced the Saskatchewan Huskies again the following day but lost 5-0.

The Bisons men’s hockey team will face off against the Mount Royal Cougars on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Wayne Fleming Arena.