BISON MOVE TO FIFTH IN DIVISION AFTER SHOOTOUT WIN OVER SWAMP RABBITS

IMAGE COURTESY OF BLOOMINGTON BISON MEDIA TEAM

NORMAL, Ill. – After forcing a shootout against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Ilya Tsulygin scored the winning goal in the sixth round to give the Bloomington Bison a 3-2 victory, bumping them up to fifth in the central division.

Greenville got off to a hot start, dominating shots taken and eventually scoring the first goal of the game at 4:03. The Bison responded, forcing an offensive back-and-forth that ended in an 11-11 shot tie at the end of the first, with the Rabbits up by one.

The second period told a different story, as the Bison scored in the first 55 seconds after a goal from Nikita Sedov. Bloomington kept up the aggression, scoring a second time just 11 seconds later. Greenville would go on a run for the rest of the period, but goalie Dryden McKay kept the Bison up 2-1.

In the final period, the Swamp Rabbits had all the momentum. Their defense held the Bison to just three shots in the entire period, while getting double-digit shots of their own.

McKay held strong, keeping Greenville out of the net until 18:46, where newcomer Jake Percival scored his very first goal as a Swamp Rabbit. With the late goal, the Rabbits sent the game into extra minutes with a 2-2 score.

In overtime, both teams made several shots on the opposing net, but both goalies showed out, with McKay even making a glove snag save. When the buzzer sounded, the score remained 2-2, sending both teams to a shootout.

McKay and Greenville goalie Simon Latkoczy played at their best, forcing six rounds, until Ilya Tsulygin finally gave the Bison the win, and Bloomington came away with a final score of 3-2.

With just a few games remaining in the regular season, the Bison have four games remaining, as they sit just one point out of playoff contention, behind the Indy Fuel.

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