WINNIPEG – After a Mount Royal win on Friday night, Bisons men's hockey were back for revenge on Saturday, November 20 as they faced the Cougars again at Wayne Fleming Arena.
After trailing for the majority of the game, Manitoba captain Keaton Jameson tied the game up at 4-4 with 11:14 on the clock in the third period. Jameson's goal came after Colton Veloso was stopped on a breakaway, but the leader of the Herd was able to corral the loose puck and put it by the Cougars' goaltender Riley Morris.
Before time ran out in regulation, Mount Royal took a late penalty for too many men on the ice, which gave Manitoba a 4-on-3 power play to start overtime. With the Cougars hemmed in their own zone, the Bisons' Devon Skoleski found Brett Davis open near the face-off dot; Davis made no mistake and ripped a shot passed Morris to give the Herd a 5-4 victory.
"With a 4-on-3, there is a lot more ice to work with than a 5-on-4 so we wanted to work it around a little bit and make sure we got shots," said Davis. "We have been on a little bit of a skid as of late and we just wanted to focus on playing a full 60 minutes tonight."
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Manitoba.
The Cougars' Yaremko kept his hot start to the season going with the game's first goal at 6:05 of the opening frame.
Shortly after Manitoba was on the power play, the Cougars' Kyle Walker spun around a Bison defender before finding Yaremko with a pass in the slot. Yaremko beat Manitoba goaltender Liam Hughes with a shot over the blocker for his 14th goal of the year, giving his Cougars squad an early 1-0 lead. Not long after, the visitors extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Bradley Kennedy at 9:23 of the period, his second of the weekend.
However, before the first period came to an end, Devon Skoleski got the Bisons on the board after tipping a Mitch Dyck point shot to bring Manitoba back within one headed into the second period.
Just 16 seconds in the middle frame, Yaremko added his second of the game with a shot over the glove of Hughes on a partial breakaway. With Mount Royal now up 3-1 early in the second, the Bisons took little time to answer. Less than a minute after the Cougars took back their two-goal lead, Manitoba forward Ryan Carlson deflected a shot from Reece Harsch passed the Cougars' netminder. The Bisons found themselves on the power play three times throughout the period but were unable to capitalize and the two teams headed to the third with the Cougars out in front 3-2.
Another early period goal from Mount Royal restored their two-goal lead, this time off the stick of forward Robbie Holmes. Now down 4-2, the Herd were able to answer quickly again. While in transition, Skoleski fed linemate Davis who ripped a shot passed Morris from the slot. Then it was Jameson who added his goal at the 8:46 mark of the third to tie the game at 4-4.
The two teams remained tied at 4-4 for the rest of regulation time. Davis' goal early in overtime sealed it for the Bisons.
The Bisons will return to Canada West action on Friday, November 26 on the road in Edmonton where they will face the Alberta Golden Bears. Mount Royal will return home and enjoy a conference bye next weekend.
