Bison Hook Walleye In Convincing Road Win

In perhaps the biggest surprise of Friday’s ECHL action, the Bloomington Bison (14-16-3) took down the Toledo Walleye (24-8-4) 4-1 at Huntington Center.

The Bison goaltending was as impressive as their offensive output. Yaniv Perets stopped 41 of 42 shots in a dazzling performance, improving his record to 4-2-1 on the season.

Bloomington’s win stopped the Walleye’s five-game win streak, a span in which the team outscored its opponents 17-8. They managed only one goal on this night, but challenged Perets throughout the game.

Maxim Barbashev got the scoring going for the Bison at 8:42 of the opening period on a feed from Eddie Matsushima off a 2-on-1. Ryan Siedem picked up a secondary assist on Barbashev’s first goal of the season.

Patrick Bajkov scored on a rebound for his second goal in as many games and his third of the year at 14:58. Brett Budgell and Zach Hoffman got the helpers to complete the first-period scoring.

Brandon Hawkins put Toledo on the scoreboard with his 20^th goal of the season at 6:18 of the middle frame to cut the Bison lead to 2-1. Jalen Smereck and Trenton Bliss picked up assists.

Josh Boyer got the two-goal lead back for Bloomington with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 13:18 for a 3-1 lead. It was his seventh of the season and assisted by Connor Lockhart and Carter Berger.

The Walleye put Perets to the test in the period, outshooting Bloomington 12-6, but Perets was up to the task.

The barrage continued in the third. Once again, Perets was an impenetrable wall, stopping all 16 shots in the period. Toledo even pulled their goalie, Jan Bednar, for the extra attacker, to no avail.

With 50 seconds remaining, Boyer scored his second goal of the night on an empty-netter for the 4-1 final. Jake Murray earned an assist on the play.

Bednar took the loss, stopping 17 of 20 shots. Bloomington went 0-for-1 on the power-play and was a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty-kill.

The Bison return to Grossinger Motors Arena for Star Wars Night on Saturday against the Kalamazoo Wings. The team will be decked out in specialty-themed Star Wars jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game. Puck drop is set for 7 Pm CT.

Toledo is off until Jan. 17, when they travel to Fort Wayne for a matchup against the Komets. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:35 Pm ET.