Savannah, GA – Mark Sinclair’s 52 saves and Eddie Matsushima’s three-point night secured the Bloomington Bison a 3-2 win over the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Saturday night at Enmarket Arena.
3:34 into the game, Matsushima opened the scoring with his 19th of the season on a shot from behind the net that deflected in. Jake Murray and Kohei Sato assisted on the lone goal in the period. The Ghost Pirates outshot the Bison 11-10 in the opening frame.
Bloomington opened the second period killing a penalty that carried over from the first. Matsushima broke up a play and found Gavin Gould in front of the Savannah net for his third of the season. The shorthanded goal extended the Bison lead to 2-0 just :27 into the stanza. Savannah began an offense push but the Bison got more leverage from Matsushima. The forward collected his second goal of the night and third point of the content at 8:46 of the second. The goal was scored on a back-door tap-in from Sam Coatta and Sato. Sinclair was peppered throughout the period but kept Savannah’s offense silent for a majority of the frame. While on the fifth power play of the game, the Ghost Pirates broke the scoreless draught at 13:03. Ross Armour scored his 16th of the year from Dennis Cesana and Logan Drevitch. The goal ended the scoring in the period and sent the Bison into the third leading 3-1. The Ghost Pirates outshot the Bison 23-12 in the frame. The 23 shots from Savannah are the most the Bison have allowed in a single period this season.
Halfway through the third, the Ghost Pirates tightened the deficit with a tally from Devon Paliani. His 18th of the year came from Will Riedell at 9:31. The Ghost Pirates continued a strong offensive attack and pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker late in the game. The Bison were able to stave off the late surge and hold on for the 3-2 victory.
Sinclair saw 54 shots to preserve the win. The Ghost Pirates’ 54 shots are the most the Bison have allowed in a single game. Evan Cormier stopped 22 of 25 shots in the loss. Bloomington went 0-for-3 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
The Bison return home to Grossinger Motors Arena next Saturday for Hockey is for Lovers Night! Faceoff against the Cincinnati Cyclones is set for 7 p.m.
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