CALGARY - The University of Calgary Dinos first game back at Father David Bauer Arena after being closed for renovations was a 3-1 loss to the University of Manitoba Bisons on Friday, October 30.

A power play goal for the Bisons forward, Jordan DePape at 14:56 of the third period broke a 1-1 tie that was held since late in the first period.

"We just weren't good enough, we were swinging at pucks, we took too long to shoot, we just didn't play as fast or as urgent as we need to in order to be good in this league," said head coach, Mark Howell.   

The Dinos drew first blood on the power play 14:02 into the first period. Shortly after an extended delay due to technical difficulties with the score clock, Chris Collins capitalized on a nice give-and-go play with Dylan Walchuk to give the Dinos a 1-0 lead. 

Their lead did not last long however, as the Bisons pulled even just over 2 minutes later. With the Dinos shorthanded, Manitoba forward Shaq Merasty made no mistake putting a backdoor pass from Channing Bresciani past the Dinos goaltender to tie the game at 1.

Calgary ran into some penalty trouble in the second period, but they managed to get out of it unscathed with the two teams remaining deadlocked at 1-1 going into the final frame. 

"If you take more penalties than the other team you're not going win any hockey games and we keep doing that," Howell explained. "We talked about making sure we have more power plays than they do and we didn't and it's tough to be on the right side of the ledge when you're doing that."

In a fast paced third period that was dominated in large part by the Dinos, Manitoba took a time out when Dinos' rookie Ryan Suchorab went off for holding with 5:15 remaining. Just 11 seconds into the Bisons' power play, Adam Henry's point shot found the back of the net on a deflection from Jordan DePape. Joel Schreyer added an empty net goal in the final two minutes of the third to give the Bisons a 3-1 victory over the Dinos.

"I think we've got to play a lot more urgently and have sharper details, not swinging off pucks, being able to execute simple, quick passes. We were just slow and lethargic today for half the game." 

The Dinos will have the opportunity to even the series with Manitoba as these two teams face off again tomorrow afternoon, Oct. 31. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT at Father David Bauer Arena. 

-UC-