PORTER SECURES OT COMEBACK WIN FOR BISON
BY: Erik Konwinski, Bloomington Bison
Bloomington, Ill. – Grant Porter scored his first career professional goal to secure the Bloomington Bison a 3-2 overtime win over the Fort Wayne Komets at Grossinger Motors Arena on Saturday evening.
Bloomington began the contest with speed and aggressive forechecking, but Fort Wayne started the scoring just three minutes into the game off a 4-0 shot advantage. Momentum favored the Bison for the remainder of the frame and Bloomington would end up outshooting the Komets 12-0 after surrendering the goal. Lou-Felix Denis sparked the crowd by dropping the gloves. Later on, Bloomington got its first powerplay chance and Chongmin Lee tied the game at 16:21. Deni Goure fed Lee in the slot from below the goal line and Lee ripped it home. Ayden MacDonald earned the secondary assist. The Bison looked to have scored on their second powerplay but Porter was denied on a one-timer and Sullivan Mack was stopped on a one-on-one rush. The game headed to the middle frame with a 1-1 score.
COMMENTS:
Bloomington built off its strong play in the first, generating numerous breakaway chances from Brandon Yeamans that were turned aside early in the second. Mark Kaleinikovas had an in-tight shot stopped as well, but followed up on the shift by forcing a key clear when Fort Wayne regained possesssion. Callum Tung faced a slew of shots and turned aside 16/17 in the frame. For a second-straight night though, Bloomington would head to the final frame in search of a game-tying goal.
Bloomington’s penalty kill was stout in the final stanza and helped keep alive the comeback attempt. An early Bison penalty was killed and the teams traded calls with four-on-four action breaking up additional man-advantage chances for both squads. Porter had two more chances on the powerplay that were turned aside. The Bison were assessed a late penalty, and the successful kill was game-saving. Nikita Sedov scored from the blue line with 88 seconds remaining to force overtime, and Porter buried a pass from Mack to secure the victory just over a minute into ‘bonus hockey.’
Bloomington returns home for Pink in the Rink Night presented by Evenglow on Friday, March 20, when fans can receive a pink light-up wand, bid on specialty game-worn Pink in the Rink jerseys and enjoy $3 Busch Lights, sodas and waters, $0 popcorn and $9 pizza combos and $9 specialty T-shirts!
Single-game tickets are available for ALL Bloomington Bison home games starting as low as $20! Visit ticketmaster.com or call 309-965-HERD to purchase tickets today.
