Bisons split, two games left

Times Reporter   

 

Nearing the end of the regular season, the UFA Bisons are desperate for wins if they want a first round bye for the playoffs. On Feb. 1, the Calgary Buffaloes offense proved to be too much, as they defeated the Bisons 8-4, capitalizing on the Bisons’ 11 penalties.

“I think it was part of it,” Bisons Coach Dan MacDonald said of their time in the box. “We struggled with the pressure they gave us, and we didn’t react well. Hopefully we learn from that. They’re a good team, I don’t think they’ve lost recently – they’re on a roll.”

At the end of the first, it was only 2-1 for the Buffaloes. However, they scored four goals in the second – three on the powerplay, and one shorthanded – and never looked back. MacDonald even changed from Garrett Mason to Carter Seminuk in net.

“It didn’t change much.” MacDonald said. “Sometimes a change will be like a timeout almost, but that’s not what happened. They kept blitzing us no matter who was in net. It was unfair to either one of them, our defense didn’t have a good night.”

Bisons assistant captains Connor Boyd and Ryan Zeniuk had a goal and an assist each, while Matthew Forchuk and Zach Giroux both scored on the powerplay. 

The next night, Tyler Sharuga scored the game winner halfway through the third to break the tie, leading to the Bisons 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Bison captain Mackenzie Bauer had the team’s first two goals, both assisted by Mason McCarty. Still, MacDonald needs to see some change in his squad.

“We moved the puck better and did better things, but we’re still not the way we were playing when we were on our roll,” he said. “You know, we were moving our feet faster and we were moving the puck faster. We seem to have lost some confidence with these few loses.”

The team only managed two wins out of six matchups in January, after winning all of their games in December.

“Maybe we thought it would be easy, after we had those wins. Now we’re learning, it’s the same old story, the reason we had them was because we worked hard together,” MacDonald said.

The Bisons have two remaining games: St. Albert on Feb. 15, and CAC Gregg Distributors on Feb. 16, both at home in Strathmore.

“We’ve been very good on the road for most of the year,” MacDonald said. “Sometimes you get on the road and you really get together as a group. It shows when you get on the ice. We’ve had quite a few loses at home, I’m not saying home is an advantage right now, but it’ll be good for us to get ready for the playoffs.”

Down by one point for second place in the division, and thus, a bye for the first round of the playoffs, coach MacDonald and the team will be focusing on defense for their week off.

“We still have real inconsistencies in our defensive end. That’s where we have to try to shore up,” he said. “We give up too many goals still – to be good in the playoffs, you have to be real tight defensively. We’re fast and we like to move the puck, so we like to be in their end, but at the same time we have to be better in ours.”