The Bisons men’s hockey team faced the University of Calgary Dinos at the Wayne Fleming Arena on Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22.
In game one, the Dinos won the game 4-0 with goals from Brendan Lee in the first period and Hayden Pakkala plus Stephen Kirkpatrick in the second period. They sealed the win with another goal by Jake Poole in the third period. The Dinos had 22 shots on goal to 18 shots on goals by the Bisons. The Dinos were effective on the power play, scoring two of five opportunities, while the Bisons went zero for four, showing a clear advantage in execution. Goaltender Carl Tetachuk recorded the shutout for the Dinos. The game was quite physical, leading to the herd getting seven minor penalties and one game misconduct while the Dinos had six minor penalties.
The second game started off with the same intensity the first game ended with. Within 10 minutes of the first period, Bisons forward Skyler Bruce received a penalty for interference. Following this, Pakkala scored a goal in power play. However, before the herd could launch any effective counterattack, Carter Massier scored a shorthanded goal for the Dinos. The first period ended with the Dinos leading by 2-0.
The second period started off with the herd trying to attack, leading to a penalty by Adam Kydd for the Dinos. Taking advantage of this powerplay, Luke Brenton scored for the Bisons — the herd had found their rhythm. Blake Swetlikoff went on to score the second goal for the herd and tied the score. The Dinos again took advantage of the power plays with Lee scoring another goal, followed by Massier scoring his second goal for the game. By the end of the second period, the Dinos were leading the game 4-2.
The third period had both teams trying to dominate with possession. With three minutes left, Pakkala scored another goal, although an empty netter, and the Dinos were up 5-2. However, Swetlikoff scored one last goal for the herd before the buzzer went off, reducing the gap and finishing the game 5-3.
Bisons forward Mitchell Joss commented on the second game, saying, “It’s a tough loss, but I though the boys battled hard.” He added, “Blake Swetlikoff played a really solid game, as well as Matthew Kieper.” Joss also mentioned that the Bisons “battled well and had good possession in the offensive zone on five-on-five.”
Bisons men’s hockey head coach Gordon Burnett commented on the games against Calgary. “[The Calgary Dinos] have a good goaltender, and they have a good hockey team. [They’re the] number two ranked team in the country for a reason. That being said, I thought when we played five-on-five, not just tonight, but last night as well, I thought it was really good hockey,” he said.
Burnett said the Bisons’ play at even strength was solid, but special teams remained a problem. “Unfortunately, special teams-wise, we have some work to do,” Burnett said. “Our [penalty kill] wasn’t good enough last night, it wasn’t good enough today, and that essentially decided the hockey game, but when we played even up it was really good hockey.”
The Bisons men’s hockey team will face the Regina Cougars on Friday, Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. CT and Saturday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. CT in Regina, Saskatchewan. The last time the Bisons faced the Cougars, the herd won the match 4-3.
