Bisons with double W’s

Times Reporter  

 

On the road for the second straight weekend, the UFA Bisons pulled off two victories: 5-2 against Ernie’s Sports Storm in Grand Prairie on Oct. 19; and 5-3 over the Gregg Distributors in Edmonton the following day.

The Storm had a 2-1 lead in the first, but the Bisons tied it up in the second, and lit up three in the third. The Bisons scored four of their markers on the powerplay, thanks to the Storm taking 16 penalties on the night.

“Yeah it really helped us when they took a lot of penalties,” said Bisons head coach Dan MacDonald. “If they’re going to take penalties, then we can capitalize on their miscues.”

Mackenzie Bauer continued his streak with a goal against the Storm; he has 13 points in 8 games, tied for third in the league.

“He’s the captain of our team, and he leads by example,” MacDonald said. “He just plays hard all the time. He’s a real fire plug for our hockey team.”

It took the team roughly six hours to travel from Grand Prairie to Edmonton, but the boys didn’t let fatigue influence their play.

“It’s tough to play that quick. You don’t get much turnaround time to recover,” MacDonald said.

Not only so, but three of their players were out for the game in Edmonton. Josh Bishop was on a one-game suspension, and Philip Anderson continues to sit out with his injury. In the Grand Prairie game, Braden Biccum took a harsh hit from behind; it looked like a slight concussion, MacDonald said. Down to nine forwards and five defensemen, left wing Connor Boyd played defense to assist the skinny bench. 

Gregg Distributors had a 2-1 league at the end of the first – it was back and forth in the second period, before the Bisons took over. For the second straight game, Mason McCarty contributed two goals; Bauer added two helpers.

“It was a real gutsy win. It was just hard work and determination. That’s our strength — we give a good solid effort. Any time you do, things can go your way. We had a bit of luck too, they hit a couple posts, but Garrett Mason played really well in net again for us,” MacDonald said.

Mason made 33 saves, and has a .922 save percentage and 2.39 goals against average on the season.

Rookie defenseman Tristan Thompson is close behind Bauer in points with 12; Thompson is also tied with teammate Mason McCarty, for the league lead in powerplay goals, with five each.