Bloomington, Ill. – The Bloomington Bison scored seven unanswered goals and Parker Lindauer lit the lamp in his debut to help the team secure a 7-2 comeback win over the Iowa Heartlanders at Grossinger Motors Arena on Saturday evening.
The Bison generated early scoring chances before being sent to a penalty kill under three minutes in. Lou-Felix Denis intercepted a pass shorthanded and hit the post on a breakaway. Moments later, Nikita Sedov followed suit and Iowa stormed to the offensive zone to strike first on the powerplay. Bloomington delivered a strong response and recorded the next seven shots but was held off the score sheet. Parker Gavlas energized the crowd by dropping the gloves for a fight before Bloomington earned its first man-advantage. The home team hit a third post and headed to the second in a 1-0 deficit.
The Bison were denied on a quality chance under a minute in and pressured from the puck drop, but Iowa doubled its lead on the sequence. Ayden MacDonald finally broke the ice for Bloomington when he tapped in a rebound on the powerplay from Deni Goure and Shane Ott. Goure later stole a puck in the neutral zone to set up a Riku Ishida snipe from the high slot, which tied the game at 11:17. Eddie Matsushima netted the eventual-game-winning goal after pickpocketing the Heartlanders goaltender for an unassisted tally at 12:12.
Bloomington poured on more firepower in the final stanza with four additional goals. Brenden Datema started off the tallies with a one-timer seven minutes in from Sedov and Matsushima. Later, Hugo Ollas fended off a shot to set up a rush for Sullivan Mack. Mack then sailed the puck toward Grant Porter, who tipped it in to put Bloomington up 5-2. Lindauer poked in his milestone puck from Ishida while Bloomington was on a five-on-three powerplay and Sedov earned his third assist of the night. Mikahil Abramov added further insurance by scoring on a shorthanded breakaway from Ollas with under three minutes left. Ollas tuned aside 22 of 24 in his first start since February 1st and the Bison jumped two points ahead of the Cincinnati Cyclones for sole possession of fourth place in the Central Division.
Join the Bison on March 22 for Sunday Family Fun Day beginning at 4 p.m. when kids 12 and under receive a free meal and stick around for the final post-game skate of the season with Bison players.
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.