Box Score The Manitoba Bisons erased a late two goal deficit to defeat the MacEwan Griffins 4-3 in a penalty shootout.
After going down 3-1 thanks to two short handed goals, Manitoba scored twice with the goalie pulled in the last minute to force over time.
Riley Zimmerman tipped in a goal to cut the lead to one goal and
Colton Veloso followed suit with under 30 seconds left.
"I saw Dylan with the puck up top and knew he was trying to float it to the net so I tried to get a stick on it and thankfully I did," said Veloso about his game tying goal.
Chase Hartje's lone shootout goal made the difference in the end to give the Herd an incredible comeback win.
"I saw the goalie was really far out so all I had to do was speed up fast and he was going to be caught so I went forehand which was an easy slide in," said Hartje when describing his approach to the penalty shot.
"I thought we played a pretty good game. We were in pretty tough at the end there, giving up two short handed goals was something we didn't like but to respond with two six on five goals is pretty good," said Bisons head coach Gordon Burnett after the game. "We've had a lot of work at it this year, so it's nice to finally be rewarded for the amount of times we've been in that situation."
The win meant something extra special as Veloso and Hartje, along with
Dylan Thiessen played in the last home game of their careers.
"Sometimes when you know you're not making the playoffs teams can quit and not give their full effort. However the guys came out today and gave their full effort so it's pretty special for us seniors," said Veloso about his final home game.
"We've dealt with a lot of adversity this year so we wanted to go out and give it our best effort," Hartje said about the Bisons going down two goals.
Things started rather slowly as no one found the net in the first period.
Kolby Thornton came up with two huge saves early in the second period to keep the score level.
Several more valiant efforts came between the pipes for Thornton a minute later, racking up four saves in a row before the Griffins finally broke the deadlock. Carter Chorney used his stick to redirect the puck into the net before Thorton could find it.
The Bisons took advantage of the remaining power play to start the third period.
Chase Hartje assisted Thiessen to level the score once more at one a piece.
Manitoba came close to taking the lead halfway through the period but the tides turned quick. MacEwan charged down the ice after a loose puck and Brendan Boyle finished the job giving the Griffins a shorthanded goal for the second night in a row.
The shorthand goals came in bunches as Kole Gable added to his weekend tally. He netted another one on a breakaway giving his team a two goal cushion.
But the déjà vu continued. With a minute remaining the Bisons were desperate to get back in the game and it was the rookie to the rescue.
Zimmeran tipped in a shot from
Parker Malchuk with 1:10 left to cut the MacEwan lead to one.
Then in the dying seconds Veloso guided in a shot from the outside to tie the game at 3-3.
Overtime saw chances for both teams but none converted. It was off to a penalty shootout to decide the game.
After a stop from Thornton and a miss by Thiessen, Hartje beat Thomas Davis to give the Herd the advantage.
Ethan Strang had to score to keep the game alive, but Thornton came up big once again to shut the door and give the Bisons the win.
Manitoba wraps their season up next weekend on the road with a double header against the Saskatchewan Huskies starting on Friday night at 7pm CT.
