WINNIPEG — On Friday night, the Manitoba Bisons men's hockey team scored four unanswered goals to take down the visiting MacEwan Griffins by a score of 4-2. Saturday brought both teams back to the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg for the final game of the first ever weekend series between the two western Canadian universities.
With the teams locked in a 2-2 tie midway through the third period, second-year forward Devon Skoleski scored to give the Bisons their first lead of the game. Skoleski added his team-leading seventh goal of the season and second of the game later in the final period as Manitoba went on to defeat MacEwan by a final score of 5-2.
"Devon broke it open for us tonight," said Bisons head coach Mike Sirant. "The game was right there in the balance and he made an exceptional play that helped us go on to seal it."
Noah Basarab added two goals of his own in the game to help the Bisons stay hot, now having won four of their last five games. With the win, Manitoba's record improves to 5-9-1-0 and find themselves just two points behind the Mount Royal Cougars for the final playoff spot.
"You've got to give Grant MacEwan credit. They played a hard game and showed a lot of character. We knew after last night's game that they would push back today and it turned out to be a hard fought game," added Sirant.
MacEwan sees their record fall to 3-11-0-0, as they will have a lot of work to do the rest of the season to climb back into the conference playoff picture.
"We still had a lot to be proud of tonight," said Griffins captain Ethan Price. "We worked hard, skated well and stayed positive on the bench. We can't look at the past. These games are in the past now and we will keep on grinding every day."
The Griffins were the first team to get on the scoreboard when Chase Thudium found second-year forward Jordan Taupert alone in the slot. Taupert made no mistake and beat Bisons' goaltender Jeremy Link high over his blocker side. Later, Manitoba was able to answer with a goal from Basarab to tie the game at 1-1. Barasab's linemate Keaton Jameson put a shot just wide of the net but the first-year forward was able to corral the rebound and get the puck past Griffins goalie Ty Taylor. Before the period came to an end, the visitors restored their lead. With 2:27 left of the clock in the opening period, Zach Webb beat Link for his second goal of the season.
Manitoba got their first chance to tie the game early in the second period.
While on a 2-on-1, a sliding MacEwan defender, Loeden Schaufler, blocked the pass from Bison captain Keaton Jameson intended for Geordie Keane, nullifying the Bisons scoring opportunity. Later on in the middle frame however, Keane capitalized on his next scoring chance. Basarab took a low shot from the near the blue line that was picked up by Keane, put the puck to his backhand and shot past Griffins' Taylor for his second of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Before the period was out, the Herd had a golden opportunity to take their first lead of the game but Taylor stopped Skoleski on a breakaway.
Skoleski's two third period goals combined with Basarab's second of the game broke the 2-2 tie and gave Manitoba the 5-2 victory.
Both teams will enjoy a conference bye next weekend with the Bisons returning to action on Saturday, January 29 against one of Canada West's newest teams, the Trinity Western Spartans.
