On Military Appreciation Night, the Bloomington Bison secured the first franchise victory on home ice by a 3-1 score against the Kalamazoo Wings on Friday night at the Grossinger Motors Arena.
Despite being outshot 12-6 in the first period, the Bison were first to strike on the scoresheet. 17:55 into the first period, the Bison broke the deadlock and capitalized on the power play. Eddie Matsushima fed a pass to Case McCarthy who dropped it off to Sahil Panwar to net his first goal the season. Prior to the second period the Bison celebrated a group of enlistees as they took their U.S. Military Oath enlistment during the 1st intermission.
The middle frame saw another Bison goal as they stretched their lead to 2-0. Blake McLaughlin netted his first of the season with assists from Jake Murray and Linus Hemstrom at the 16:11 mark. His wrist shot from the blue line found its way through traffic to give the Bison the extended lead. However, back-to-back infractions left the Bison down two men for the final minute and a half of the period. Kalamazoo would capitalize with Zach Okabe potting his third of the season from Ayden MacDonald and Jaden Shields. The goal was scored at 19:21, putting the score at a 2-1 Bison lead to end the period.
To start the third period, the Bison killed the penalty that rolled over from the middle frame. Another key penalty kill 12:29 into the period ultimately shut the Wings out leading them to pull the goalie in attempts to tie the game. McLaughlin found the empty net for his second of the night with less than a minute left in the game to secure the win for the Bison.
Bison goaltender Mark Sinclair stopped 21 shots to win his third game of the season. Wings netminder Jonathan Lemieux stopped 14 shots in the loss. The Bison power play went 1-2 while the penalty kill went 2-3. Kalamazoo outshot the Bison 22-17 in the game.
The Bison go on the road tomorrow as they face off the Iowa Heartlanders at 6:00 p.m.
Single game seats are on sale now as the Bison welcome the Cincinnati Cyclones next Saturday, November 16 at 7 p.m. Pricing starts as low as $20! Visit bloomingtonbisonhockey.com, ticketmaster.com or call (309) 965-HERD to purchase tickets. To receive all the latest Bison news, sign up for the newsletter on the Bison webpage!
