(Winnipeg, MB) - Aimee Patrick notched two points and Paige Fischer made 17 saves to propel the Manitoba Bisons to a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Dinos on Friday night at Wayne Fleming Arena. It's Manitoba's sixth win in their last seven games, and they're in a playoff position in Canada West's East Division with 15 points total.

The win was the true freshman Fischer's fourth of the season. Her goals against average of 1.26 is fourth in Canada West as is her .943 save percentage. 

"Paige does not shy away from big games. She plays confident and we're lucky to be in this position where we can play either goalie," said Bisons head coach Jordy Zacharias.

"Either night, we know that as long as the team plays well in front of them, that [Fischer and veteran Emily Shippam] are playing well and they're playing confident."

Manitoba didn't waste time getting on the score sheet as Rachel Gottfried found time and space on her side to open the scoring.

Building on high pressure in the Dinos zone, Manitoba utilized three attackers high in the slot to draw defenders away from the blue line. Aimee Patrick put her strong play-making abilities on display to feed the puck to Gottfried who was wide open at the blue line.

Gottfried was clear from all Dinos defenders and rifled home a low glove-side shot from the point to give the Bisons an early 1-0 lead.

Manitoba's Brenna Nicol wouldn't waste time adding the insurance marker as patience finally paid off for her. On her fourth drive to the net, Nicol found the Dinos goaltender out of position which gave her a window of opportunity which she took to make the game 2-0.

Seconds after the Bisons had killed off a penalty, the Dinos found three attackers in front of the net. Emma Tait's original shot was saved, but McLeod picked up the rebound before a Bisons defender could swat the puck away to narrow Manitoba's lead to one late in the first period.

The Bisons re-took a two-goal lead midway through period two. After chaos ensued in front of the Dinos' net, Aimee Patrick ripped around the net to score the wraparound goal, which was accidentally helped into the net by the Dinos' netminder, Amelia Awad.

Patrick's second point of the game was the clear momentum shift in the game as Manitoba dominated puck possession from Patrick's goal onwards.

"Aimee plays such a simple game and she gets rewarded for it often," Zacharias said.

"She's got great offensive talent within her game and her line, they don't overthink the game."

In a chance to give the Bisons a comfortable three-goal lead, Kylie Lesuk shot the puck glove side on the Dinos netminder but was ultimately robbed on the play. Manitoba continued to chip away with their even-strength chances and short-handed chances too by adding a dominant penalty kill performance, as Calgary went 0-4.

"It's a big adjustment or improvement, I would say from last year," Zacharias said about the importance of special teams and their dominant late-game penalty kill.

"[Assistant coach] Maggie [Litchfield-Medd's] doing a great job with the PK and getting them feeling comfortable and having some opportunity for younger players to get out there."

The Bisons and Dinos are back in action for a rematch at Wayne Fleming Arena with puck drop set for 3:00 pm CST.