Box Score WINNIPEG – The Alberta Golden Bears ended Manitoba's chances of a playoff berth on Saturday, scoring four times in 17 minutes to break open a close game late in the second in a 7-4 win.
 
Alberta leads Canada West's East Division with 43 points after the win.
 
The Golden Bears held a lot of offensive zone time to begin the first, as the Bisons struggled to clear the puck. The pressure paid off, as forward Sam Popowich stickhandled his way through and laid it off to Rookie Sean Tshigerl who one-timed it home.
 
Bisons goalie Braden Holt did well to keep the Bisons in the game, making 16 stops within the first, but the Golden Bears found the back of the net just after their first power play, making it 2-0 midway through the opening period.
 
A speedy zone entry by Noah Boyko gave the forward time to pick a corner, and he fired it glove side to put the second on the board for Alberta.
 
The Bisons weren't done fighting however. On the penalty kill, Dawson Pasternak spotted a poorly timed change by the Alberta power play and fed the puck up to captain Johnny Hooker, alone in front of the Golden Bears' netminder.
 
Hooker capitalized off the first shot on net the Bisons had in the period, scoring his 17th of the season.
 
Soon after, the Golden Bears got a shorthanded goal themselves.
 
A miss-pass while breaking out of the Manitoba zone ended up on the tape of Alex Thacker's stick. One on one with the goaltender, Thacker made no mistake and put Alberta up 3-1 in the first.
 
The Bisons began to make their presence known in the second period. Just three minutes in, a bouncing puck found Riley Stotts' stick at the offensive blue line. Stotts muscled his way past the Alberta defenceman and fired the puck top corner to get Manitoba within one.
 
Now in a groove, Manitoba's Skyler Bruce netted his 15th goal of the season to make the game level. 
 
After an initial shot by Grady Lane took a weird bounce off of Alberta Goaltender Ethan Kruger's pad, Bruce reacted quickly to poke the puck over the line.
 
All of Manitoba's first three goal scorers netted their 29th point of the season, with Bruce, Stotts and Hooker all tied for first within the team.
 
However, the Golden Bears found two responses in the second half of the period.
 
Alberta's Popowich again cut through the Bisons defence and laid it off backdoor for teammate Ty Nash, and soon after, Alberta rookie Elias Carmichael netted his first USports goal for the Golden Bears, as he fired it far post to put Alberta up two going into the third.
 
For the second game in a row, the Bisons entered the third period in need of some goals in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
But Alberta struck first in the third period. A defensive miscommunication left Brett Hyland open at the Manitoba crease, which gave him time to pick up his own rebound and put it away.
 
The Golden Bears continued to run riot in the third, finding a seventh goal halfway through.
 
Sean Tschigerl scored his second on the night after the Bisons lost the mark on him, and shot it over the shoulder of Holt.
 
Manitoba pushed for bits of zone time throughout the period, but nothing substantial enough to consistently threaten the Alberta net.
 
The Bisons found their only goal of the period with 52 seconds left, as Dawson Pasternak capitalized on a behind-the-net feed from Caden Zaplitny.
 
The Bisons go on the road for their last weekend of the season against the Saskatchewan Huskies at 8 p.m. CST.