Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

WINNIPEG, Man. – The powerful powerplay of the Manitoba Bisons struck three more times on Saturday – after also scoring thrice on Friday – and the MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team was denied a chance to clinch a playoff spot in a 6-3 loss.

"We took too many penalties again," lamented MacEwan head coach Zack Dailey. "It's something we talked about – being more disciplined – and then we couldn't execute on our penalty kill. 

"That was the difference of the weekend, actually. They generated a whole bunch on the powerplay. Five-on-five, I thought we did a really good job."

The Griffins outscored the Bisons 6-4 in five-on-five play throughout the weekend, but settled for a split in the series (after winning 5-4 on Friday) that drops them to 9-11-2 in the Canada West standings. 

Manitoba is now 5-15-2 and gets back to eight points behind MacEwan for the final playoff spot in the Canada West East Division. With six games remaining in the regular season for both teams, the battle will head into next weekend where MacEwan hosts Saskatchewan twice and Manitoba travels to Regina for a pair of games.

So, the Griffins are very much still in the driver's seat for a playoff spot, but they have some lessons mined out of their series at Manitoba.

"Just need to clean up some stuff," said Dailey. "I think our five-on-five hockey is quite good. 

"I thought our powerplay looked quite a bit better this weekend than it has, so we just need to make sure we clean up a few things in our D zone and clean up our penalty kill. If we get those things figured out, we're going to be a tough team to beat."

GOAL��
Sometimes it happens and he'll take it.
Kadyn Chabot opens the scoring with an easy one against @umbisons early in the first period.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/hdAmbnn3Qk

— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025

On Saturday, the Griffins scored first when Manitoba goaltender Braden Holt misplayed a puck behind his net, leading to Liam Ryan feeding Kadyn Chabot out front for a tap in just 4:43 into the contest.

After Skyler Bruce tied it up on the powerplay for the Bisons with 3:59 remaining in the first, the Griffins regained the lead less than a minute later when Carter Chorney tipped Ethan Sundar's shot past Holt.

GOAL��
Carter Chorney's tip puts the @MacEwanGriffins up 2-1 on @umbisons after 20 minutes!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/CtUSxp14uP

— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025

But Manitoba's Bruce struck again early in the second before Johnny Hooker put the Bisons ahead with his 13^th powerplay goal of the season, just one shy of the Manitoba Bisons' program record, set in 2005-06 by Paul Deniset.

"Their top unit is five forwards, so they're kind of in attack mode all the time," said Dailey. "They're really skilled guys – a bunch of Western (Hockey) League guys, who've had a bunch of points. So, they're a very talented group and we just weren't able to execute our game plan this weekend."

GOAL��
Marc Pasemko pots the rebound to tie the game with his 10th of the season. It's 3-3 between @MacEwanGriffins and @umbisons after 40 minutes.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/9DUu2JLhjA

— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025

However, they were able to tie the game after 40 minutes when Marc Pasemko tapped in a rebound off Vincent Scott's shot. Hunter Donohoe drew an assist on the goal for his fourth apple of the weekend and 19^th of the season – already the program's single season Canada West record, and he has six games left.

"The biggest difference this year is he got some confidence early and I think that really kick-started his year," said Dailey. "Then he's just ridden with it. He got an opportunity on the powerplay this year and he'd done a really good job of staying there because he's making really good plays. 

"He's also figured out the balance of when to make plays and when to keep it simple. I think that's the biggest difference this year is he's doing a really good job with his decision making on the ice."

Manitoba put the game away in the third period on goals by Lucas Fry, Riley Stotts (on the powerplay) and Hooker, even strength this time for his team-leading 15^th goal of the year.

Eric Ward made 21 saves for MacEwan, while Holt stopped 31 for Manitoba.

The Griffins next return home for a weekend series vs. Saskatchewan Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.