EDMONTON, AB – The University of Manitoba Bisons completed a road sweep of the University of Alberta Golden Bears this weekend to improve to 4-2 on the Canada West season.
Manitoba entered the weekend coming off a split with Saskatchewan and continued its strong start with back-to-back wins in Edmonton, receiving contributions throughout the lineup while special teams played a key role in both outcomes.
On Friday, the Bisons erased a third-period deficit with three unanswered goals to claim a 4-2 victory. After carrying a 1-0 lead into the final frame on
Skyler Bruce's second goal of the season, Manitoba fell behind when Alberta scored twice in a span of less than seven minutes early in the third.
The Bisons responded immediately. Bruce tied the game just 48 seconds after Alberta took the lead, and
Dawson Pasternak scored the eventual game-winner on the power play at 12:22 of the third. Bruce completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Bruce finished with three goals, while Pasternak added a goal and an assist.
Ben Bonni recorded two assists, and
Braden Holt made 18 saves to earn the win.
The following night, Manitoba once again used a strong second period to secure a 5-2 victory and complete the sweep.
Caden Zaplitny opened the scoring in the first period before Alberta tied the game early in the second on a power-play marker. The Bisons answered with four goals in the middle frame, including even-strength markers from
Erik Pastro and
Lucas Brennan and power-play goals from
Skyler Bruce and
Eric Alarie.
Alberta scored its second power-play goal of the night early in the third to cut the deficit to two, but Brennan restored Manitoba's three-goal cushion midway through the period.
Matthew Kieper stopped 25 shots for the victory, while Manitoba's power play converted twice on five opportunities.
Bruce paced the Bisons offensively over the weekend with four goals and two assists in the two victories. He now sits at
five goals and eight points in six games this season. Pasternak added a goal and three assists on the weekend and has
six points through the early stretch, while Brennan contributed a goal and two assists in Saturday's win.
The Bisons return home next weekend looking to extend their winning streak after collecting all four available points against Alberta.
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