REGINA, Sask. - The line of Sanfred King, Ian McNulty and Dylen McKinlay combined for six points as the Regina Cougars downed the Manitoba Bisons in a 5-3 men's hockey thriller at The Co-operators Centre on Friday, January 16 night.

The first two periods featured a strong defensive presence, as McNulty scored in the first and Shaquille Merasty knotted things up in the second by beating Lucas Gore. The game broke open in the final frame, as the teams combined for six goals.

The Cougars, who were desperate for a win to remain in the playoff hunt, were sparked by King who scored twice in span of two minutes and 17 seconds to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead. The Bisons stormed back, scoring twice in 23 seconds to tie it up. McKinlay would score his fifth of the season just less than two minutes later and Cody Fowlie added an insurance marker with 2:23 to play, sealing the win for the home team.

It looked as though the first period would end with no score until McNulty collected a loose puck in the Bisons zone and roofed a shot to the short side, beating Deven Dubyk with 76 seconds left in the period. John Sonntag was credited with an assist on McNulty's fourth of the season, which gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead heading into the second frame.

The Bisons replied near the end of a four-minute powerplay which was the result of a spear by Brock Appleyard. Manitoba won a draw just outside of the Cougars zone and worked the puck towards the net. It was Merasty taking a feed from Aaron Lewadniuk and firing a wrist-shot under the blocker of Gore to even the score. Channing Bresciani also assisted on Merasty's marker.

King's first goal was a thing of beauty, the result of some smooth passing from McKinlay and McNulty on the powerplay. McKinlay fed a cross-ice pass from the right wing to McNulty, who slipped it past a defender to King who was wide open in front of the net. King tapped it in to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.

King added to the Cougars' third period lead, as Tyler Henry sent him streaking in down the left boards. King wired a low snapshot to the bottom corner of the net, slipping the shot under Dubyk's pad and just inside the post. The goal gave King his third multi-point game of the season and put the Cougars up 3-1 with 10:09 to play.

Manitoba came back in impressive fashion, putting pucks on net at every chance possible. The shots on net paid off, as a shot from Jesse Paradis produced a rebound that Taylor Dickin beat top shelf to draw the Bisons closer.

Just 23 seconds later the Bisons tied things up again after a mad scramble in front. Dustin Bruyere was the beneficiary, as he collected a loose puck and out-waited the cluster of bodies in the crease before potting his second of the campaign. Warren Callis and Joel Schreyer earned assists.

The furious pace of the final frame continued after Bruyere's goal, as Dylen McKinlay scored his fifth of the season to put the Cougars back on top. The goal came off an incredible back-door pass from Carter Selinger, and all McKinlay had to do was tap the puck in.

Cody Fowlie added an insurance marker with just over two minutes to play, as he intercepted a pass in front of the Bisons net and beat Dubyk high blocker-side to put the game out of reach.

Gore made 30 stops in net for the Cougars, who improve to 7-14-2 and keep their playoff hopes alive with the win. Dubyk stopped 24 shots for the Bisons.

The rematch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at The Co-operators Centre.