Bloomington Ill. - The Bloomington Bison experienced their second consecutive loss to the Toledo Walleye on Sunday afternoon by a 4-2 margin at Grossinger Motors Arena.
In the first period, the Bison exceled with chances posting 14 shots. Sahil Panwar, Chase Pauls, Thomas Stewart and Blake McLaughlin each contributed two shots on goal for the Bison. At 8:56, Toledo forward Carson Bantle scored on a pass assisted by Gabriel Seger. By the end of the period, the Bison outshot the Walleye by a margin of 14-10.
At 0:52 in the second period, Tyler Spezia found Trenton Bliss to increase the Walleye’s lead. However, Bryce Montgomery responded at 3:31 to score the first regular season goal in Bison franchise history. Chongmin Lee and Jaime Engelbert assisted the defenseman’s goal, causing the arena to erupt with excitement. At 7:03, Brandon Hawkins and Trenton Bliss set up Spezia in the slot, extending the Walleye to a 3-1 lead. Despite the two goals deficit, the Bison outshot the Walleye in the second period by a 12-7 margin.
In the third period, Jalen Smereck connected with Seger in the Bison’s zone to add to the Walleye’s lead. At 7:20, Bison forward Blake McLaughlin was awarded a penalty shot but could not capitalize on the opportunity. The Walleye suffered a two-man penalty at 13:46 giving the Bison a five-on-three power play. Case McCarthy scored his first goal of the season on the man advantage. McLaughlin and Brett Budgell assisted McCarthy. Despite pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker, the Bison could not overcome the deficit and lost by a 4-2 score.
Ruslan Khazheyev started in the net for the Bison playing 27:03 and allowing three goals on 15 shots. Mark Sinclair replaced Khanzheyev in the second period allowing one goal on 12 shots.
Carter Gylander manned the net for the Walleye with 38 saves on 40 shots helping the Walleye record their second win of the season.
The Bison return to the Grossinger Motors Arena at 7 p.m. on Saturday against the Iowa Heartlanders. All fans are encouraged to join the Halloween Celebration including a costume contest. For more information on tickets visit bloomingtonhockey.com, ticketmaster.com or call (309) 965-HERD. To receive all the latest Bison news, sign up for the newsletter on the Bison webpage.