BOX SCORE

WINNIPEG - Melissa Zubick's sixth goal of the season just over six minutes into overtime ended the Manitoba Bisons' season as the Calgary Dinos stretched their win streak to 10 games with a 3-2 triumph at the Max Bell Centre in Winnipeg.

Needing a sweep of the Dinos to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Bisons' hopes were dashed just over halfway through the extra session when Zubick earned some retribution for last year, when Manitoba knocked out the Dinos in the first round of the playoffs.

Calgary's other goals were scored by Erika Mitschke and Tanya Morgan. Netminder Jennifer Mallard made 24 saves on the evening.

The Bisons' goals were notched by Meagan Vestby and Maggie Litchfield-Medd. Leiette Klassen started in net, and made 16 saves.

With the result of the game, the Manitoba falls to 12-7-4 on their season and the Dinos remain at the top of the Canada West division with a record of 19-4-0.

The Dinos looked like the better team right out of the gate in the first period, putting up five shots on goal before Manitoba found its first. The game's first goal was notched by Calgary's Erika Mitschke after teammate Jenna Smith made a nice drop pass to her, opening up a lot of ice and allowing Mitschke to snipe a wrister over the shoulder of Bisons netminder Leiette Klassen for the 1-0 lead.

While Manitoba had a few opportunities on the power play to tie things up, they couldn't get the man-advantage working for them before the buzzer, ending the first period at 1-0 for the Dinos.

Whatever the discussion was in the Bisons dressing room between periods, it must have been a good one, as it only took them 37 seconds in the second period to get things tied up.  Meagan Vestby found the puck on her stick with a scrum in front of Calgary's net, and fired it home to tie the game at 1-1.

As the halfway mark of the second approached, the Dinos quieted the home crowd once again as Calgary's Iya Gabrilova dangled her way to the front of the net and fed captain Tanya Morgan on the other side of the cage, who buried it to give the Dinos a 2-1 lead.

Down a goal and not ready to hit the showers yet, Manitoba's Maggie Litchfield-Medd left the entire Max Bell Centre speechless when she undressed not one, but two Dinos defencemen, faked goaltender Jennifer Mallard to the ground, and buried a backhand shot top shelf, tying the game at 2-2.

With the score tied at two, the third period promised to be an exciting one as the Bisons had 20 minutes of work left to try and keep their playoff hopes afloat.

With the Bisons desperate to get in a playoff spot and Calgary trying to keep them out, the third period was a stalemate right to the end, despite a pair of controversial “no goal” calls for Manitoba.  With the score still tied 2-2, the two teams headed into overtime.

Only 30 seconds into the first overtime period, the Bisons' Nellie Minshull was hooked on her way to the net, and Manitoba had a 4-on-3 advantage for two minutes as they tried to find the game-winner.

The Bisons had more than one great opportunity to finish it with the man-advantage, but couldn't get it done.  With things back to 4-on-4, and time running out in the first overtime period, the Dinos' Melissa Zubick snuffed out Manitoba's playoff hopes after a second-effort on a breakaway, ending the game at 3-2 Calgary.

The Dinos and Bisons face off once more to end the season Saturday night, with puck drop at 6 p.m. MT.

-UC-