West Valley City, Utah – Nikita Sedov capped off his third three-point performance with an overtime goal to lead the Bloomington Bison to a 4-3 victory over the Utah Grizzlies at the Maverik Center on Monday afternoon.
For the first time in the three-game series against the Grizzlies, Bloomington struck first, taking advantage of a five-on-three powerplay at 9:26 of the first period. After drawing a cross-checking penalty while on a powerplay, Head Coach Phillip Barski called his timeout and the team came through when play resumed. Kyle Jackson set up at the blue line and passed to Sedov on the right circle before Riku Ishida finished the play with a cross-ice one-timed shot. Ishida’s seventh powerplay goal of the season propelled him to first place among defensemen. The Bison continued to carry the pace of play and finished the frame with their 1-0 score lead and a 11-6 shot advantage.
Early in the middle period, Bloomington denied Utah a powerplay advantage and minutes later took a 2-0 lead. Ayden MacDonald sailed a puck over neutral ice from his own blue line and Brad Morrison snuck behind the defense to gain possession deep in offensive ice. Zak Karpa then provided reinforcements and freed the puck from the corner scrum to Sedov, who blasted an attempt from the point that was tipped by Morrison at 9:36. Over four minutes later, Bloomington outworked Utah behind the net again and climbed to a 3-0 lead. Shane Ott and Eddie Matsushima broke the puck free around the net from the far corner, and Chris Ortiz drifted to the slot before potting a backhander. The Bison were tasked with another penalty kill before the end of the period and began the third with 54 seconds of carryover time.
Despite killing off the remainder of the minor penalty and keeping the Grizzlies on their own side of center ice for nearly the first full five minutes of the period, Bloomington finally caved to a Utah shot at 6:01. A defenseman gloved the puck down and after feeding it to the circle the home team got on the board. The play was confirmed a ‘good goal’ upon official review. Three minutes later, the third best powerplay in the ECHL broke free of Bloomington’s excellent penalty-killing stretch (which included nine perfect minutes on Saturday). The Grizzlies cashed in on two powerplay goals in a 98-second span and tied the game 3-3 with nine minutes left in regulation. Callum Tung faced 15 shots in the third period, and made 28 of 31 saves through regulation to eventually capture his seventh win of the season.
Bloomington secured the win just 20 seconds into the extra frame. Matsushima won the opening faceoff to Sedov, who retreated behind his net to begin a rush play. Ott received a pass from Sedov and entered the offensive zone before dishing the puck back to its sender, who cemented the victory.
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