By: Alan Fuehring, Bloomington Bison
Kalamazoo, Mich. – The Bloomington Bison posted the most goals in franchise history in a 7-2 victory against the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday night at Wings Event Center.
Just 2:53 into the game, Connor Lockhart opened the scoring with a breakaway goal for his seventh of the season from P.J. Fletcher. 1:47 later, Brett Budgell tallied his eighth of the year with a shot from the slot that went unassisted. Josh Boyer extended the lead to 3-0 seven minutes into the content with his sixth of the season and fourth straight game with a goal. Lockhart caught the Wings netminder straying from the net and found Boyer in front for the score. Max Humitz pulled Kalamazoo within two with his eighth of the season at 13:45. Ryan Cox and Jon Martin assisted the goal. 3:06 later, Chongmin Lee regained the Bison three-goal lead, finding a rebound before the net. Danny Katic and Jake Murray assisted his sixth of the year in ending the period’s scoring with Bloomington leading 4-1.
Kalamazoo opened the second frame with a goal from Ryan Naumovski at 1:28. His second of the year came from Cox and Humitz. Just 26 seconds later, Budgell answered with his second goal of the game and eighth of the season. The forward scored on a rebound after an initial shot from Maxim Barbashev. The Bison scoring continued 21 seconds later, with Fletcher deflecting a shot for his second of the season. Murray and Lee assisted to give the Bison a 6-2 lead. Following the goal, Kalamazoo pulled starting goaltender Hunter Vorva in favor of Jonathan Lemieux. Later in the frame on the power play, Blake McLaughlin finalized the scoring with his ninth of the year on a snapshot, with assists credited to Ryan Siedem and Lee. The goal was scored at 12:30 to bring the game to a 7-2 margin.
The Bison only allowed three shots in the third period and cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Wings. Yaniv Perets stopped 28 of 30 shots to improve his record to 3-2-0. Vorva took the loss with nine saves on 15 shots, while Lemieux stopped 20 of 21 shots in relief. The Bison totaled 36 shots, went 1-for-5 on the power play, and killed their lone penalty.
The Bison return to Grossinger Motors Arena on Wednesday, January 8th at 7 p.m. for Elvis Presley Night featuring an impersonator of The King himself! Single-game seats are available starting as low as $20! Group pricing with benefits, suite options, and all-inclusive seating are also available. Visit bloomingtonbisonhockey.com or call (309) 965-HERD for more information.
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