Box Score Zone time played a major factor Friday night at Wayne Fleming Arena as the Regina Cougars scored two goals early, which was more than enough in an 8-0 win over the Manitoba Bisons. 
 
Regina doubled up Manitoba in shots after one period with forward Jayden Davis scoring the eventual game winner. With the win, the Cougars improve to 4-11 while Manitoba falls to 7-10.
 
In the first period, we weren't playing with any energy," said Bisons head coach Mike Sirant. "We're waiting for something to happen instead of dictating the terms out there."
 
Cougars forward Bryce Platt had more than a few chances earely on, but Bisons netminder Ross Hawryluk battled hard to shut him down. The Cougars piggy backed on the momentum of Platts chances with a goal from Davis on the rebound to make it 1-0.
 
Hawryluk – who leads the conference with 525 saves -- stepped up again with two big saves back-to-back on a shot and rebound. In a failed attempt to clear, Platt stepped in with room, but Hawryluk saved the day. With his pad to the ice, he slid across the crease to deny the Cougars forward.
 
With just over a minute to go, shot from the point from Cougars forward Jake Fletcher snuck it short side on Hawryluk making it 2-0.
 
The second period was better for the Cougars, and thus worse for the Bisons. 15 seconds in, Cougars forward Randen Schmidt got a pass from the wing right off the draw to secure a 3-0 lead. Bisons defenceman Ryan Gottfried got tangled up with the linesman and Manitoba wasn't careful enough. 
 
After a cross check behind the net and some fighting led to a four on four, both teams responded with big hits back and forth. The Bisons penalty kill did a great job protecting their end during a five-minute major.
 
The Bisons best chances came on a back-to-back but were denied by Cougars netminder Adam Evanoff who transformed himself into a brick wall.
 
Bisons Hawryluk on the other hand, took a shot at an odd angle from Cougars forward Eric Pearce that trickled just over his pad. A 4-0 score was the final curtain for Hawryluk on the night and Simon Harkness took his place in net.
 
Manitoba also restructured their lines in an attempt to ignite a spark, including forward Jonny Hooker who was moved up to the top line.
 
"Regardless of the score, we're going to keep coaching and we expect our players to keep competing," Sirant said. "We changed the lines, we changed the goaltenders to find the spark because we just we didn't have that.'
 
The netminder change meant nothing to the Cougars. On a turnover in the Regina end, Cougars took the puck down the ice. The initial shot didn't go in, hanging on the blue line like a lifeline for the Bisons, but the Cougars got to the puck first and pushed it over, sending them into the third period up 5-0.
 
The final 20 was quite the physical match starting with Cougars forward Scott Mickoski who landed a huge hit on Bisons forward Codey Behun. Bisons forward and captain Geordie Keane stepped into Cougars Pearce in response.
 
The first half of the period didn't have many chances for either group, but the latter half saw the Cougars score three to shutout the Bisons.
 
Both teams will be back in action tomorrow.