Generals defeat Bisons, take over 1st place

The Generals travelled to Okotoks on Friday night for a battle of the two top teams in the South Division. The winner of this premiere matchup would take over first place. This is the first meeting between these two teams so the first period was a feeling out period for both squads. It was until the 7 minute mark that Okotoks drew first blood. An untimely giveaway in front of Generals goaltender Matt Shawchuck left an Okotoks player all alone infront and he went upstairs to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead. The Generals got an opportunity 8 minutes later to tie things up with a powerplay and Jonny Pictin sniped his 5^thof the season. The Generals started to roll from there and netted the go ahead goal only 3 minutes later. A solid forecheck led to a Reid Wilson centering pass right on the stick of Generals leading point getter, Kris Keller. Keller made no mistake and buried his 5^thof the season. The 1^stperiod came to a close with the Generals leading 2-1. Okotoks outshot Cochrane 13-11.

The second period would turn out to be a real circus. The referee decided he wanted to flex his muscles and prove to everyone in the rink just how much authority he had. The period saw a total of 14 minors, 1 major, and a 10 minute misconduct. 9 of those minors went to the Generals, many of which overlapped, giving the Bisons numerous 5 on 3 advantages. During the brief even strength time at the beginning of the period the Bisons had pulled even notting the game at 2. That is when the circus started. The Generals were on the fortunate end of the calls early in the period and got 2 separate man advantages. The Cochrane squad capitalized on both powerplays on a goal from Riley Boothby, his team leading 10^thof the season; and Darren Schmautz, his 4^thof the season. Then the Generals PK took over, killing off 8 straight penalties as well as adding a short handed goal. Tyson Soloski picked of the Bisons goaltenders attempted break out pass and buried into an empty net for his 5^thof the year. The Generals now had a commanding 5-2 lead. The Bisons added a late powerplay goal to narrow the lead to 2. The scoreboard now read 5-3, the shots in the period were tied at 10.

The third period saw the Generals sit back and attempt to protect their lead. The Generals best player in the period was goaltender Matt Shawchuck who steered away several excellent chances by the Bison’s attackers. The Bisons were looking like they were about to mount a comeback when they received a powerplay early in the 3^rd, but the Generals penalty killers had different plans. Ian McRae sent Luke Geddes in on a break away and he made a great move on the goalie and slid home the shorthanded goal to extend the lead to 6-3. The Bisons kept coming but Shawchuck continued to make timely saves. The Bisons would get one more to make the score 6-4 but that is as close as they would get.

Final Score after 3 periods was Generals 6 Bisons 4. The Bisons outshot the Generals 38-27, but the Generals improved their record to 9-1. PP went 3/6 while the PK went 1/9 and chipped in 3 shorthanded goals.