Thunderbirds beaten by Manitoba

2/5/2012 12:23:00 AM

WINNIPEG - The No. 7-ranked Manitoba Bisons put up four straight goals in a miraculous third period comeback, to beat the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 5-3 in regulation.

The game's tying goal and game-winner came off the stick of Manitoba's leading scorer, Blair Macaulay.

With the win, the Bisons now sit in first place in the Canada West division, two points ahead of the Alberta Pandas. Manitoba's record improves to 17-5-2 and UBC's falls to 12-9-3.

Manitoba's goals were notched by Tyler Schmidt, Brendan Rowinski, Blair Macaulay (2), and Chris Benias. Net minder Joe Caligiuri made 14 saves in the first two periods, and Mark Friesen made seven in the third.

The T-Birds' goals were scored by Max Grassi (2) and Jordan Inglis, and their goaltender Jordan White made 24 saves on the evening.

Both teams looked strong defensively in the opening half of the first period, only allowing for a few shots on goal each. Leading scorer for the Thunderbirds Max Grassi was first to get on the board, though, as he fired a shot point blank in front of the net that just barely trickled through Bisons' net minder Joe Caligiuri's five-hole, putting UBC up 1-0.

Despite a pair of power plays for Manitoba, and outshooting UBC 12-5, Max Grassi struck again in the dying the seconds of the first period, beating Caligiuri and giving the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Down by a pair, just like they were the night before, the Bisons knew they'd have to have a good second period in order to get back in the game. It took over half the period, but when Manitoba finally scored they did it in style, as Tyler Dittmer and Ian Duval played a game of tic-tac-toe, getting the puck to Tyler Schmidt who scored his first of the season, and brought the score to 2-1 UBC.

Any momentum the Herd might have gained off the highlight-reel goal was quickly snuffed out when Jared Walker was served a minor and 10-minute misconduct for a hit to the head. The T-Birds' Jordan Inglis made them pay, with a greasy goal right in front of Caligiuri, and it was 3-1 UBC with time ticking down in the second.

The Bisons enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage for about 20 seconds before the period was through, but still couldn't capitalize on the power play, now 0/4, and were down by a pair heading into the third period.

As the third got underway, Mark Friesen replaced Joe Caligiuri in net for the Bisons.

After failing to capitalize on their fifth power play of the game, a faceoff to the left of Thunderbirds goaltender Jordan White was just where Manitoba's Brendan Rowinski needed it to be, as he sniped one home right off the faceoff, bring the Bisons to within just one.

Mere minutes after Rowinski's goal, Manitoba's leading scorer Blair Macaulay sniped one of his own after streaking down the right wing, and just like that it was 3-3 in the Max Bell Centre with under seven minutes to play in the game.

Proving that he's the Bisons' leading scorer for a reason, Blair Macaulay tallied another on the power play, off a great heads-up pass from Tyler Dittmer. 4-3 Manitoba.

Not content with just a one-goal lead, the Bisons' Chris Benias put another in the cage 50 seconds later, and four straight for Manitoba made it 5-3 with minutes to go in the final stanza.

The T-Birds pulled their goalie in the final minute, but the two-goal deficit was too much to overcome and the Bisons took a 5-3 victory.

The Manitoba Bisons play next on Friday and Saturday, February 10/11 in Calgary against the Dinos.

UBC will return home to host the Saskatchewan Huskies for two games at Father Bauer Arena. It will also be seniors weekend as the Thunderbirds honour their graduating athletes.

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