LETHBRIDGE – The Nicholas Sheran Arena experienced plenty of changes in mood on Saturday afternoon, as the Lethbridge Pronghorns took down the Manitoba Bisons 6-3, showcased in a back-and-forth nine-goal scoring spree that followed a shamefully empty first period.
Luke Coleman (1st Star) scored the game winner for the Lethbridge Pronghorns, while Michael Clarke (3rd Star) garnered three assists on the night and landed six shots on the Manitoba net.
Lethbridge's Taz Burman (2nd Star) made 53 saves on 56 shots in his fourth win of the season, while Manitoba's Riley Lamb allowed six goals on 38 shots in his fourth loss of the Bisons campaign.
Despite icing one player short of a full roster, the Bisons established control of the momentum in the opening minutes of the game, keeping the Pronghorns hemmed in their own end and forcing them to take – and successfully kill – a hooking penalty by Josh Borynec.
After the first period of play, Manitoba held the 16-11 shots lead, but neither side found a way to open the scoring.
In spite of trailing the Pronghorns 6-3 on the shot clock early in the second, the Bisons were the first team to find the back of the net. Collecting the puck on a long dump-in by Brady Pouteau, Ben Dalke passed it to a blitzing Dylan Thiessen to put it past Burman for Manitoba's first of the game.
Lethbridge served their answer into the Manitoba net less than two minutes later. Luke Coleman sent a saucer pass from his own zone up the ice to Michael Clarke, and he found Borynec slipping behind his defender to tip the pass past Lamb to tie the game at one.
Both teams went back-and-forth between ends for a little while before Lethbridge captured their first lead of the game after a short-handed turnover by the Bisons in the Pronghorns zone.
After receiving the breakout pass from Coleman, Ryan Chynoweth led a charge of four special-team Pronghorns on the Lamb-tended net, where opting to shoot it himself resulted in his team's first lead.
Manitoba tied the game four minutes later on a fortuitous rebound on Mitchell Dyck's shot, as it ricocheted off the chest of Burman down into the crease, where Jonah Wasylak managed to tuck it into the net.
It was the Pronghorns who scored last in the second period to give his side a 3-2 lead, as Brooks Maxwell took a pass from Dallas Valentine into the Bisons zone, flicking it past Lamb on the far-side above his blocker hand.
Lethbridge widened their lead four minutes into in the final frame as Spenser Jensen got the puck thanks to an offensive-zone faceoff win, cycling it over to Michael Clarke. Clarke's shot on Lamb was deflected behind Lamb by Luke Coleman, widening the lead to two goals.
Manitoba closed the lead just 68 seconds later on the dump-and-chase by the visitors. Brady Pouteau reclaimed the puck at the far-side half-boards, passed it cross-ice to Wasylak, whose deep shot was tipped past Burman by Leipsic for Manitoba's third of the game.
Lethbridge would score two more goals – a fluke rebound goal by Russel Maxwell as he slid into the net, and a tic-tac-toe play from Clarke to Dalton Sward to Borynec – to put this game permanently out of reach for the Bisons.
With the win, the Pronghorns improve to 5-10-1 (11 pts) on the season, tied with the UBC Thunderbirds (4-8-3, 11 pts) for the final playoff spot in the Canada West conference – UBC has a game in hand, as they have yet to close out their weekend series against the Alberta Golden Bears – while the Bisons (7-8-1, 15 pts) remain in fifth place between the Thunderbirds and the Mount Royal Cougars (10-3-2, 22 pts).
The Pronghorns will be taking the next month off, as Canada West hockey action breaks for the month of December. Their first game of the new year will take place on Friday, January 3rd, 2020, when they visit the Regina Cougars (2-11-2, 6 pts, and a game in hand) in Saskatchewan.
