IMAGE COURTESY OF BLOOMINGTON BISON MEDIA TEAM
Normal, Ill. -A dominant performance from Riku Ishida ended a Halloween thriller with a win for the Bloomington Bison.
The Bison came out strong in the opening frame, striking first with Mark Kaleinikovas’ wrist shot off assists from Zakary Karpa and Cullen Ferguson.
The goal marked Kaleinikovas’ first of the season and the first time Bloomington opened the scoring this year.
Goaltender Callum Tung, returning from injury, was tested early and often, facing heavy traffic in front of the crease but preserving the Bison’s lead heading into the second period.
The second period saw both teams find the back of the net multiple times. Kalamazoo tied the game less than a minute into the period, but Ishida could not be stopped after that.
His back-to-back goals off assists from Shane Ott and Kyle Jackson, then from Jackson and Eddie Matsushima, made it a 3-1 contest.
The Wings responded, cutting the lead to one midway through the period, but Bloomington killed off three penalties to maintain its 3-2 advantage heading into the final frame.
In the third, the Bison defense held strong, fending off multiple Kalamazoo chances before Jackson sealed the win with his team-leading fourth goal of the season with just over six minutes remaining.
Jackson’s three-point performance boosted his total to nine points in four games, while Tung’s sharp play between the pipes — including three third-period penalty kills and a key 6-on-4 penalty kill late in the game — helped secure the 4-2 victory for the Bison.
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