Box Score Dana Goertzen's first brace of the season gave the Manitoba Bisons a 5-3 win over the visiting Calgary Dinos on Friday night at Wayne Fleming Arena.
"The big thing for Dana is to shoot the puck, she's got the best shot on this team so to see her utilize it more hopefully she sees how much it'll pay off for her," said the Bisons Head Coach Jordy Zacharias about Goertzen's performance.
Goertzen is having a stellar sophomore season already scoring five goals through the first half of 2023-24, compared to two goals in her rookie year.
"We started off hot which is something we've done well, but sometimes we get a bit complacent," Zacharias added.
"Our PK was great, then our power play was buzzing in the second half of the game so they really pushed hard. Almost a complete game from them," remarked Zacharias with a chuckle after the win.
The other star for the Bisons on the night was goaltender Meagan Relf who stopped 27 of 30 shots with more than half of those coming in the second period alone.
"Relfy has been great for us the whole season, especially the last three weekends," said Zacharias about her third year netminder.
"She stopped quite a few grade A chances for us so it's our job after to clear the puck," Zacharias added.
It didn't take long for Manitoba to open the floodgates. Sarah Dennehy netted her fourth goal of the season in the first five minutes to give the Bisons the early lead.
Less than a minute later Molly Kunnas slotted home her first goal of 2023, doubling the Herd's lead.
Calgary pulled one back with five minutes to go in the first period. Courtney Kollman popped in her fourth goal of the season to cut the deficit in half.
The Dinos poured it on offensively to start the second period with 10 shots in the first 10 minutes. They were finally rewarded for their efforts with a goal when Elizabeth Lang threaded the puck into the back of the mesh.
It didn't take long for Manitoba to respond when Jena Barscello splashed through enemy lines to lift her team on top once again. It was her first goal of the year.
Lightning struck twice moments later when the Bisons regained their two goal lead thanks to a phenomenal one-two play that saw Goertzen finish a brilliant pass from Aimee Patrick.
The Bisons later found their first power play goal after Goertzen's shot took a friendly bounce of off the crossbar and the back of Dinos goaltender Amelia Awad for her second of the evening.
Bisons goaltender Megan Relf stood on her head in the second making 16 saves on 17 shots after only facing six in the first.
The Bisons defended the power play well and held Calgary off the board for most of the third period.
Calgary pulled within two late after Lang poked in her 2nd of the game, but it wasn't enough to overcome the margin.
"Don't be satisfied. Be happy, but don't be satisfied. We play in a tough league where you have a tough turn around playing right away the next day. The second game is about playing smart and digging deep," said Zacharias about the rematch on Saturday.
The Bisons and Dinos square off again tomorrow afternoon at 2pm CT.
