Box Score It was an unforgiving Friday the 13th for the University of Manitoba men's hockey team, as they lost 7-5 to the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Nov. 13 at Wayne Fleming Arena. After a slow start to the season, the Pronghorns entered the match riding a three-game win streak and put the Bisons defence on blast after taking a two-goal lead in the first period which the Bisons never fully recovered from.
 
"That was a strange game," said Bisons head coach Mike Sirant.
 
"We did a good job with puck possession, and made good plays offensively. Scored enough goals to win, generated enough chances and shots to win, but that's only half of the game. The other side of the game is defensively and we felt we were far too casual defensively tonight.
 
Justin Valentino lead the offensive surge for Lethbridge, scoring twice and contributing an assist as well, while Brandon Clowes had a four-point night with a goal and three assists. For the Bisons, Shaq Merasty scored twice, and both Jordyn Boyd and Lee Christensen picked up two assists on the night.
 
Justin Paulic faced 37 shots in goal for Manitoba, with Damien Ketlo faced 30 in net for Lethbridge.
 
"Justin's been playing really well for us tonight. He didn't get a lot of help out there. Several times they walked in all alone on him — he made some big saves for us, too,"

"You know we win as a team, we lose as a team, and you can't expect to be successful when you're giving up 40 shots on your home rink. And that's not the goaltender.
 
Manitoba opened the game's scoring after Shaq Merasty recovered what looked to be a broken play on a three-on-one break and potting his seventh goal of the season. Jordyn Boyd and Lee Christensen picked up the assists.
 
But the Pronghorns would storm back before the period's end, as Artsiom Kalashnikov stepped out of the power play and helped steal the puck from, sendng Brandon Clowes up on a breakaway, beating Paulic gloveside.
 
The Pronghorns took no time to strike again, this time on the power play. Justin Valentino snapped a quick shot past Paulic beating him glove side. Lethbridge would extend their lead in the final minute of the period, with Mitchell Maxwell tallying Lethbridge's third goal of the period.

And the rout looked to continue in the second period, with Valentino finding beating Paulic just over a minute in, making it 4-1.
 
In response, Manitoba upped their physicality and it paid off with Warren Callis beating a sprawling Ketlo at 3:57 to cut the Lethbridge lead to two. With the Bisons eyeing a comeback, the game intensity ratcheted up.
 
Dustin Bruyere was given the only roughing penalty after a brief skirmish in front of the Bison net. Manitoba did a good job of killing the penalty, but the man advantage allowed Lethbridge to build momentum as Blake Orban restored the visitor's three-goal lead shortly after the penalty had expired.
 
But Manitoba would respond again, this time it was Liam Bilton cutting in front and roofing a wrist shot past Ketlo at 13:15. Less than a minute later, Manitoba's leading scorer and captain Jordan DePape got on the score sheet, cleaning up a messy rebound into a wide open net. Lethbridge led 5-4 heading into the third period.
 
"We did come back to within a goal, and at that point we should have surged ahead, but we still had too many defensive breakdowns," said Sirant.

"We'd been really good defensively the last two weekends. We were just too casual on defense tonight and it cost us."
 
The Bisons came out fast and furious in the third and created all sorts of chaos in front of Ketlo in the opening minutes. But Lethbridge weathered the attack and came storming back, Cassidy Mappin scoring on the power play with Brock Sutherland in the box for tripping.  Dalton Sward would add another at even strength just moments later to restore Lethbridge's three-goal lead.
 
Things got interesting in the final three minutes, as penalties to Ryan Aasman and Orban provided Manitoba with a two-man advantage, setting up Merasty's second of the game. Manitoba continued to press until the final buzzer, but ultimately fell short.
 
"We've got a short turnaround, so we can't dwell on this," said Sirant. "We've got to be mentally prepared to come back and try to salvage the weekend."
 
The teams hit the ice to play the second half of the weekend series Saturday, Nov. 14 with puck drop scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.