Calgary – The Mount Royal Cougars (1-3-0) were shutout 1-0 at home by the Manitoba Bisons (1-3-0) Friday night in men's hockey. A tight defensive battle yielded few scoring chances and the Bisons were the only team to convert. Brendan Rowinski scored the lone goal for the Bsions at the 8:48 mark of the first period. Deven Dubyk made 38 saves to record the shutout.

What started out as a wide open game quickly tightened up after the Bisons scored their first goal on Flette. Former Calgary Hitmen forward Brendan Rowinski beat Flette at the 8:48 of the first period to put Manitoba on the board. The Cougars who have been prone to penalty trouble managed to play a very solid, physical game and drew only two penalties, neither of which Manitoba converted on. Despite outshooting the Bisons 10-8 the Cougars trailed 1-0 at the intermission.

Manitoba came out flying at the start of the second getting pressure from every angle. If it was not for the stellar play of Flette the game could have gotten out of hand. The Bisons outshot the Cougars 11-10 in the second period.

With their backs against the wall in the third the Cougars threw everything they could at Dubyk pounding away and astounding 18 shots in the third. In the final five minutes the Cougars dominated play but the Bisons just collapsed in front of their net and held on until the final buzzer.

The win moves Manitoba to 2-3-0 while the Cougars drop to 1-4-0.

These two will be back at it tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT at the Flames Community Arenas for a rematch of tonight's spirited matchup.