CIS men's hockey Friday roundup: Hamilton scores twice as 'Birds down No. 3 Bears

Off to a rocky start, and putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy, the Bisons would fall 6-3 to the Huskies, in what was a solid effort that simply got started too late.

The first period would fly by in a total of only 35 minutes, as neither team received more than a single penalty each, and whistles were few and far between. The Huskies would get on the board first, and get there early; less than five minutes into the first period, it was captain Kyle Ross who would pick up his own rebound off of Manitoba goalie Steve Christie, and pound home a backhand shot to put the Huskies up 1-0 early on.

It would only take the Bisons five minutes to generate a response, as Tyler Dittmer would break down the left wing and unleash a massive slap shot that found its place just overtop of Saskatchewan net minder David Reekie's glove side shoulder, tying the game at 1-1, a score that would hold up right to the end of the first period.

The second period began with not just a bang, but two of them as the Bisons' luck took an unfortunate downward spiral in the opening minutes. The Huskies would grab their first marker a mere 42 seconds into the second period, as Craig McCallum found the back of the net. A minute and a half later Saskatchewan's Chris Durand would fire one past Steve Christie, putting Saskatchewan up 3-1 and prompting the Bisons staff to pull Christie and put in back-up goaltender Jesse Deckert.

Despite the couple of penalties that the Huskies would pick up over the course of the second, Manitoba just couldn't find another marker. The Huskies' Steven Gillen would be penalized twice in three minutes for slashing, but it was Gillen who would have the last laugh, stepping out of the box to receive a long leading pass, allowing him to break in on Deckert and fire a rocket right through his five-hole, giving the Huskies a 4-1 lead, with time winding down.

If the Bisons thought that it couldn't get any worse, they were about to find out the hard way that they were wrong, as Saskatchewan wasn't quite finished running up the score. Manitoba's Ian Duvall would sit for two on a hooking call, and Huskies captain Kyle Ross would pick up his second of the night after faking out Deckert and burying a backhand shot, allowing Saskatchewan to end the second period with a commanding 5-1 lead.

At 5-1 Saskatchewan to open the third period, the Bisons had a tall mountain to climb if they wanted to pull off a 'W', and the Huskies made it clear that they weren't going to make it easy for them. Four minutes in, Manitoba's Dane Crowley would sit for two in the sin bin on a slashing call, allowing the Huskies' Chris Durand to bury yet another marker, his second of the night, putting his team up by an insurmountable 6-1 lead.

Down but not out quite yet, the Bisons would pick up an impressive shorthanded goal with time winding down, as Jordan Cyr would feed a beautiful pass over to Riley Dudar, coming in hard on the Huskies net, who had no problem putting it away, making it 6-2 for Saskatchewan.

Tempers understandably flaring, both teams were picking up their fair share of penalties, though Manitoba found themselves on the power play a little more often. The Bison's Kyle Howarth would manage a nicely executed power play goal before the night was through, bringing the final score to 6-3 Saskatchewan.

With Manitoba fighting against Lethbridge to stay in fourth spot, it will remain to be seen whether or not they will be able to hang on to their hopes of making the playoffs. Keep an eye on GoBisons.ca for all of your Manitoba Bisons news, scores, and updates.

The Manitoba Bisons play next on Saturday, February 26 evening at the Max Bell Centre in the second game against the Saskatchewan Huskie, puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT.

Source: Manitoba Sports info

With the victory, Calgary stayed two points up on third place Saskatchewan, who blitzed the Manitoba Bisons earlier on Friday by a score of 6-3. The Dinos now need only one point in tomorrow's rematch against Lethbridge, who desperately needs points themselves to secure a playoff bid, to ensure a home-ice in the first round of the postseason next weekend.

Calgary can also secure the home playoff bid with anything less than a Saskatchewan victory tomorrow. Should Calgary lose and the Huskies win, Saskatchewan would take second place by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker.

Lethbridge and Manitoba battle for fourth place, a spot the Bisons currently inhabit by a point's advantage over the 'Horns. Lethbridge needs a victory over Calgary and a Saskatchewan regulation victory to clinch the playoff spot, as they are edged out as well in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Stuck with that pressure of needing victories to help cement a playoff berth, the Lethbridge Pronghorns caught an early break on their first "shot" of Friday's game. With the Dinos on their heels, captain Dustin Moore circled around the back of Dustin Butler's net only to launch it across the crease, ricocheting it off of Andrew Courtenay's skate. The puck trickled across the goal-line with only 31 seconds removed from the clock, giving the 'Horns the early lead.

Unfazed, Calgary soldiered forward and was rewarded on the penalty kill 16 minutes later, as Brock Nixon forced a rebound home off of Tyler Swystun's initial close-range shot. The conversion on the two-on-two situation tied the game up at 1-1, which held until the intermission.

The Dinos would get two more in the second period courtesy of the Reid Jorgensen-Aaron Richards-Walker Wintoneak forward line. Jorgensen would one-time a shot from in close for his 17th of the season, just moments after Brock Nixon missed on a glorious opportunity with a wide open net. Richards would convert at 16:52 from the right side of Pronghorns goaltender Scott Bowles, taking the pass from Jorgensen to make it 3-1.

Calgary would have their lead cut to 3-2 by the second intermission, as they couldn't clear the big body of Tyler Feakes from in front of Butler with Joel Eisenkirch in the penalty box. Feakes tipped in the initial Nicholas Hotson shot for his third of the season.

Slipping behind the Lethbridge defence, Nixon breezed a terrific slap-shot past Bowles in the third period, which put Calgary in the driver's seat, where they would withstand 13 third period shots from Lethbridge to preserve the victory. Aaron Richards would get his second goal of the game late on an empty-net strike.

Butler made 23 saves in the victory, while Bowles made 26 on thirty shots faced for the Pronghorns.

Assistant Coach Cory Cross credited Calgary's resolve against a desperate Lethbridge team.

"They came out really hard to start, but we didn't let that early goal rattle us," said Cross, who played for 12 years in the NHL as a defenceman.

"After that though I thought we played real well and real simple, and we buried our chances," continued Cross. "They did take the game over in the third but Butler was excellent."

Calgary and Lethbridge resume play tomorrow night at Father David Bauer Arena in the pivotal match-up, where the puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. The Dinos will honour their fifth-year seniors in a ceremony prior to the game.

Source: Calgary Sports Info