BISON COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN TOLEDO
By: Erik Konwinski, Bloomington Bison
Toledo, Ohio – Sullivan Mack recorded two points and the Bloomington Bison fired 38 shots on goal but fell just short of a comeback bid and lost 4-3 to the Toledo Walleye at Huntington Center on Sunday evening.
Bloomington began play with energy and pace, and drew a Toledo penalty just over two minutes in. The Bison could not capitalize on their powerplay but generated chances and got a second look with 5:31 remaining in the period. Four-on-four play erased the powerplay and after the initial call expired, Bloomington was guilty of taking a puck-over-the-glass delay of game penalty to give Toledo a 5-on-3 advantage. Five seconds later, the Walleye scored. The Bison answered on the following shift when Kylor Wall stole the puck in his own zone and passed to Mack, who outskated a defenseman before tallying a shorthanded breakaway goal to tie the game 1-1 at 18:35. Bloomington completed the rest of the penalty kill and outshot Toledo 13-4 in the first.
Penalties continued to snowball for the Bison early in the middle stanza and the Walleye added a second powerplay goal at 3:31. Bloomington was assessed a 5-minute major on the play, and Toledo jumped up 3-1 with a third powerplay goal less than five minutes into the period. After finally returning to full strength, the Bison peppered Toledo’s netminder and with 37 seconds on the clock, Kyle Jackson slammed in his 16th goal of the season from Nikita Sedov and Chongmin Lee.
Ayden MacDonald dropped the gloves at 8:40 of the third and before he had finished serving his five minutes for fighting, Deni Goure tied the game 3-3. Grant Porter and Mack assisted on Goure’s fourth tally as a Bison, which marked his 14thpoint in 10 games with Bloomington. Porter’s helper increased his totals to four assists and eight points in nine professional games. The penalty kill fended off the league’s top powerplay one final time when the Bison were assessed a tripping minor with 2:50 on the clock, and with just 39 seconds left, Toledo got caught with too many men on the ice. Despite having a chance to secure the comeback win on the powerplay, the Bison allowed a Walleye to skate coast-to-coast and score the game-winning, shorthanded goal with just 24 ticks left.
Bloomington returns home on Friday, April 3 for Fan Appreciation Night presented by Chick-fil-A when fans can win offers from Bison partners, enjoy $3 Busch Lights, sodas and waters, $0 popcorn and $9 pizza combos and $9 specialty T-shirts! Be among the first fans in the building to receive a special giveaway item!
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.
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