Bisons blanked at home

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Calgary Buffaloes netminder Taylor Gauthier’s performance had all the makings of an Oceans 11 film. Robbing the CFR Chemicals Bisons, he was devastating, smooth, timely and walked away with a smug smile on his face.
Gauthier was miraculous, turning away all 35 shots to pick up his second shutout of the season as the Buffs skated to the 3-0 victory over the Bisons during Alberta Midget Hockey League action Dec. 11 at the Strathmore Family Centre. It was the first time the Bisons were blanked this year.
The Buffs (15-2-4) now sit second, three points back of the Bisons (17-2-3), for top spot in the Chrysler division. The Buffs are stingy and own the top-ranked offence, with 99 goals for, while allowing the fewest (34 goals against).
Despite being outshot 35-31, the Bisons definitely out-chanced the Buffs.
Time and time again, Gauthier bailed out the Buffs with mind-rattling saves.
“We knew tonight was going to be a hard game. [Gauthier] proved to everyone why he has been successful in the past. He is a battler, never quits and is a very smart goalie,” said Buffs coach Claude Vilgrain.
In the first period, Blake Wells, who is tied for the team lead in goals (11), was sent in on a breakaway, only to be turned away.
Four minutes into the second frame, Buffs forward Jaren Turnquist took a four-minute penalty for a hit to the head. Trailing 2-0 at the time, combined with the long change, it looked like an ample opportunity for the Bisons to get back in the game.
The Bisons cycled, looked for an opening and directed a plethora of shots on net, but nothing. Landon Melzer came close, but rang one off the crossbar.
Later in the second, Bisons leader in points, Payton Krebs, was sent in on another breakaway. Mixing it up, he tried a little right-to-left move to open up the five-hole, but was stuffed with a butterfly save. Gauthier was even in proper position to stop the rebound opportunity.
With 11 minutes and change remaining in the second frame, Krebs was sent on a 2-on-1 rush with Zach Huber. Floating a saucer pass over the sprawled out defender, Huber snapped one on net, but was blindly robbed by Gauthier’s glove.
“It was a little frustrating. Those are the types of plays that have been working for us all year. We ran into a hot goalie tonight, but we know [those shots] will go in for us again,” said Huber.
Jackson Salt took a hard pass at centre ice, arching the puck on one bounce towards Gauthier. The puck knuckled — banking hard left — it was quickly swallowed up by Gauthier’s mitt once again.
Even when Gauthier was down and out, he still managed to kick out his pads to shutdown a cross-crease shot attempt.
“That guy had awfully long legs,” joked Bisons head coach Sandy Henry.
The Bisons are experiencing a little bit of a funk in the second half of the season.
Through their first 17 games, they averaged 4.52 goals per game. Coming into the Buffs tilt, in the four games in the second half, they were down to 3.75.
Smaller sample size, stiffer competition and a few minor injuries forcing new line combinations, all probably correlate with the slight downtick in production. But it’s nothing the Bisons are too concerned about.
“We are trying some different stuff, and we will continue to do so. We won’t know what our best combination is until we try everything,” said Henry.
Henry was reassuring after the game that he believes there is no need to worry about the offence, even though he has juggled the top line over the past few games.
“It took a couple shifts for us to get going, but I thought we generated enough chances to win tonight,” said Henry. “These guys are thoroughbreds: they make a hard run and expect results because they have been successful in the past. Tonight just didn’t go our way.”
The Buff’s game marked the third-straight time the Bisons trailed after the opening frame. Granted, these are first-world problems, but in games against the top teams in the league, the Bisons are experiencing jailhouse blitzes from puck drop.
Two nights earlier, the Calgary Royals (13-4-4) used aggressive skating and team speed to apply pressure on the typically sure-handed Bisons defence.
“We can prepare to play these teams and talk about it all we want, but until you’re in it, you don’t really have a feel for what it’s like,” said Henry. “I thought we did better against the Buffs than we did against the Royals.”
Trailing 3-2 halfway through the third period, Bisons captain Brett Trentham drove to the net, snapping one past Royals netminder and co-AMHL player of the moth Samuel Burford. Joel Krahenbil and Salt also found the back of the net as the Bisons skated to their third tie of the season. Tyler Petrie, Tarun Fizer, Krebs, Wells, Tyler Strath and Huber picked up assists. Ben Laidlaw stopped 26 of 29 shots.
“We can’t dread on this weekend, we just have to keep going. There’s still lots of season left,” said Strath.
Two games remain before the Bisons break for the holidays and the Mac’s AAA Midget Tournament. First, the Bisons host the Knights of Columbus Pats (6-13-2) Dec. 16 (8 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre. The Bisons Dec. 21 when they travel to the Max Bell Centre #1 to take on the Calgary Northstars at 7:30 p.m.
The Bisons clipped the Pats 4-3 back on Nov. 5 and have yet to face the Northstars (10-9-2), who sit sixth with 22 points.