Bison Reach Milestone In Easy Road Win Over K-Wings

As they advance through their inaugural season in the ECHL, the Bloomington Bison continue to set team milestones.

Saturday night in Kalamazoo, the Bison scored the most goals in franchise history in a 7-2 win over the K-Wings at Wings Event Center.

Five goals were scored in the first period alone, and it only took less than three minutes for Bloomington to jump on the scoreboard first. Connor Lockhart potted his seventh goal of the season on a breakaway after being set up by P.J. Fletcher.

Just 1:47 later, Brett Budgell put in a shot from the slot unassisted for his eighth of the season and a 2-0 Bison lead.

Josh Boyer added to the lead seven minutes into the first when Lockhart found him in front of the net. It was Boyer’s sixth of the year and fourth consecutive game with a goal.

Max Humitz cut Bloomington’s lead to 3-1 at 13:45, his eighth goal of the season. Ryan Cox and Jon Martin picked up assists.

Chongmin Lee then extended the Bison lead back to three 3:06 later, getting a rebound in front of the net for his sixth of the year. Danny Katic and Jake Murray each earned helpers, and the first period ended with Bloomington leading 4-1.

The Wings tried to get back in the game in the middle frame, but only got one more goal. It came from Ryan Naumovski at the 1:28 mark, his second of the season. Cox and Humitz got assists.

Budgell quickly answered 26 seconds later with his second goal of the night on a rebound off a Maxim Barbashev shot.

Only 21 seconds after that, the Bison struck again. Fletcher deflected a shot into the cage for his second of the year for a 6-2 Bloomington lead.

The K-Wings then pulled starting goaltender Hunter Vorva, relieving him with Jonathan Lemieux. At 12:30 of the second period, Blake McLaughlin tallied the Bison’s final goal on a snap shot for his ninth of the season.

Lemieux bore down in the third, but the Bison only allowed three shots in the period, cruising to a 7-2 win and making history once again.

Goalie Yaniv Perets stopped 28 of 30 shots to improve his record to 3-2-0 on the season. Vorva was credited with the loss, making just nine saves on 15 shots. Lemieux stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced.

Bloomington had 36 shots and went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed their only penalty. They move to 13-16-2, while Kalamazoo drops to 12-17-1.

Bloomington returns to Grossinger Motors Arena Wednesday night to host the Toledo Walleye on Elvis Presley Night. The promotion will feature an impersonator of the King himself. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 Pm ET.

The K-Wings head to Toledo for a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Walleye. Puck drop is set for 5:15 Pm ET.