CALGARY – In a great start to a season ending six-game home stand and an even better finish of a six-game stretch against ranked opponents, the Calgary Dinos stomped out a late rally by the Manitoba Bisons to cap the weekend sweep with a 3-2 victory.
BOX SCORE
With a head of steam, rookie forward Colton Grant got his fifth goal of the season at just the right time for Calgary, wristing it past the stick side of Manitoba goaltender Steve Christie with just under eight minutes to go. The snipe successfully halted any Bisons momentum created from two consecutive power play goals to start the third period.
After struggling against Saskatchewan last weekend, Calgary (13-8-2) rebounded successfully against Manitoba, winning Friday's game as well by a score of 6-2, to go 4-2 against ranked opponents over their past six games. The Dinos finishes with Regina and Lethbridge, with both teams coming to Calgary.
Manitoba on the other hand, has lost three of their past four games, and is now in fourth place, four points up on UBC and Lethbridge.
Christie was on his game early and often in between the pipes for Manitoba, stopping a remarkable 16 shots over twenty minutes in the first period, weathering four power play opportunities for Calgary.
However the one shot Christie missed on was one he had no chance on, getting beat by Torrie Wheat on a shorthanded 2 on 1 opportunity. Potting the pass from Walker Wintoneak, Wheat marked his third shorthanded goal of the season, giving his squad a tangible reward for putting so many pucks on net in the first frame.
After yet another strong period of shooting for Calgary, Teegan Moore would add on in the second period, marking his second goal in as many games after an extended absence. Colton Grant and Reid Jorgensen would get helpers on the goal, which put Calgary, who took a 29-16 shot advantage, up 2-0 going into the second break.
Despite being down two, Manitoba showed no signs of quit in the third period, seizing momentum with two consecutive power play goals in just over two minutes to knot the game up at two with 12:35 left to play.
Leading scorer Blair Macauley sent a beautiful pass through traffic to help on the first goal, hitting Tyler Dittmer right on the tape for the easy tap-in past Calgary goaltender Dustin Butler. With the assist, Macauley brings his yearly point total to 31, good for third in the conference.
Keeping with the pressure with Luke Egener in the box for interference, Travis Mealy would snap home a short shot under the arm of Butler to bring the game to a deadlock, with Manitoba in full control of the game's momentum.
However not disturbed by the two goal rush, Grant would ice the game for the home side, which with the weekend sweep have passed the Bisons and now have full control of third place in Canada West with 28 points in the standings
Head coach Mark Howell was pleased with club's resolve in the face of adversity in the third period.
“Our first two periods were really good, we had good purpose with the puck and good power plays,” explained an upbeat Howell. “We slipped there in the third period, but we told our guys that we may have bent, but we would not break.”
“We were never rattled, stayed calm, and Grant came through for us with the huge goal,” Howell concluded.
Calgary will enjoy a weekend off next week, while Manitoba will return home where they will host the UBC Thunderbirds for a two-game series. After their bye-week, Calgary will host the Regina Cougars on February 18th and 19th at Max Bell Arena, instead of their usual home at Father David Bauer.
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