BISON LOSE TO WINGS, 2-1 ON SATURDAY
BISON LOSE TO WINGS, 2-1 ON SATURDAY
By: Erik Konwinski, Bloomington Bison
Bloomington, Ill. – Dryden McKay made 26 saves and Brett Budgell scored his third shorthanded goal of the season but the Bloomington Bison fell 2-1 to the Kalamazoo Wings at Grossinger Motors Arena on Saturday evening. With physical play mounting early, the first period ended up penalty-ridden with a combined 14 penalty minutes dished out and set the tone for the rest of the game. Bloomington’s penalty kill went three-for-three and Kalamazoo was two-for-two, with the Bison taking further advantage of shorthanded time to go up 1-0. Budgell capitalized on a two-on-one tap-in set up by Lou-Felix Denis after Denis forced a turnover on the Bloomington side of center. Budgell’s third shorthanded tally tied him for the most of any skater in the league this season. Bloomington headed into the second period with carryover time remaining on the penalty, but would complete the kill.
McKay turned aside a one-timed shot to start the frame and later poked away a breakaway. His perfect night was spoiled when the Wings tied the game with four minutes left in the frame on their 17th shot. For a second-straight time, the Bison headed into an intermission shorthanded.
Bloomington got an early third-period chance to gain the lead with its fourth powerplay but it was denied. With 28 seconds remaining, the Bison were called for a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass from their own end and Kalamazoo cemented its win with just 20 ticks on the clock. Bloomington managed 20 shots through 60 minutes, and fired nine at the Wings net in the final frame but would not come up with a second goal.
The Bison return to Grossinger Motors Arena for Spongebob Night against the Iowa Heartlanders on Saturday, December 27th! Both the Bison and Heartlanders will be dressed in Spongebob character-themed uniforms that will be available for purchase on DASH Auction with a portion of the proceeds benefiting charity.
Single-game tickets are now available for ALL Bloomington Bison home games starting as low as $20! Visit ticketmaster.com or call 309-965-HERD to purchase tickets today.
