WINNIPEG – Four power play goals helped the Manitoba Bisons defeat the Trinity Western Spartans 7-2 on Saturday afternoon at Wayne Fleming Arena. Manitoba now have 20 power play markers on the season, third in Canada West.
 
Riley Stotts had five assists, and seven points over the two-game series, while Eric Alarie's first multi-goal game as a Bison contributed to the five-goal victory.
 
The first period was an energetic start for Manitoba, looking to respond to the previous night's disappointing loss.
 
The Bisons left no breathing room for the Spartans as they began the period, and their efforts paid off as Codey Behun slotted a goal home in the second minute.
 
A strong poke check by forward Jackson Arpin made the puck land on teammate Riley Zimmerman's stick, who neatly set up for Behun for Zimmerman's first assist of the season. 
 
The Bisons doubled their lead just minutes later on the power play.
 
An excellent backhand pass by Stotts allowed forward Skyler Bruce to make an across-ice pass to Dawson Pasternak, who snipped it over the right shoulder of the Spartans netminder for his first career U SPORTS goal.
 
Manitoba's second power play goal on the night was exactly like the first, occurring immediately off the draw.
 
The puck was dropped back to Pasternak, who slid it to captain Jonny Hooker on the left side, putting the Bisons up three just six seconds into the man advantage.
 
The goal was Hooker's team-leading eleventh, as well as his tenth on the power play. He's just four away from the Bisons' single-season power play goal record, set in 2005-06 by Paul Deniset.
 
Hooker and Stotts continued their excellent point streak in the second, finding the Spartans net just a minute into the period.
 
Stotts patiently stick-handled the puck in the Spartans zone and fed it to Alarie, scoring right in front of the Spartan's net, once again on the power play.
 
The Spartans cut into their deficit midway through the period, as forward Christian Lowe linked up with teammate Connor Farren, who tipped it past Bisons goaltender Kolby Thornton.
 
Despite the intense goal oriented game, Thornton did well to ensure the Bisons held their lead. Trinity Western forward Christian Lowe pulled off a back-handed move with speed to beat the Bisons defender, but Thornton came up big to deny the Spartans a goal.
 
The third period contained exciting end-to-end action with goals for each team.
 
The entertainment began for the Spartans, as a quick zone entry by Spartan defenceman Zack Whittaker set up his teammate alone on the left side. After an initial save by Thorton, the puck would bounce to Jonathan Krahn who sniped it past the Bisons netminder.
 
Manitoba was determined to respond. Halfway through the third they would score their fourth power play goal on the day.After Stotts' initial shot was blocked by the Spartans goaltender, Alarie would follow the puck and put it across the line for his first multi-goal game as a Bison.
 
Manitoba emphatically dismantled what was left of the Spartans hopes, scoring two goals within the last four minutes of the game.
 
For the first of the two goals, Stotts made yet another pinpoint pass to find Bruce, who sniped the puck in the top right corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.
 
Stotts was not done adding to his point tally, as he again placed a pass just out of reach for the Spartan goalie, making it an easy tap-in for teammate Michael King.
 
The Bisons go on the road next week to face off against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday at 8:00 pm CST.