Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
WINNIPEG, Man. – The Griffins staked themselves to a 5-0 lead on Friday night, only to nearly see the Manitoba Bisons come all the way back before a wild contest ended 5-4 in their favour, bringing them within a regulation win on Saturday of clinching a playoff spot.
Breathe.
Four unanswered Bisons goals in the final 24:04 – three of them on the powerplay – turned a rout into a nail-biter, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is the two points, however they were accomplished.
"They're chasing us for a playoff spot and our goal is to put it out of reach," said MacEwan men's hockey head coach Zack Dailey. "Obviously, they're a desperate team, they showed that being down 5-0 but they didn't quit. They came back and pushed really hard.
"It was a really important win for us and what we're looking to do tomorrow is finish the job here, finish the weekend off. We know they're going to be desperate and hungry and playing good hockey, so we've got to be ready to go."
With the victory, the Griffins improved to 9-10-2 and moved 10 points ahead of the Bisons (4-15-2) for the third and final playoff spot in the Canada West's East Division.
With Saturday's rematch (1 p.m. MT, Canada West TV) being the seventh-last game of the regular season for both teams, a win in regulation for MacEwan would lock them into a post-season berth for a second-straight year, and officially eliminate Manitoba.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025
Liam Ryan won't be denied twice, scoring off his own rebound to put @MacEwanGriffins up 2-0 over @umbisons. Hunter Donohoe picks up his 16th assist of the season on the play, breaking the program's single season @CanadaWest record!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/lBoYzgKCwF
Liam Ryan entered the contest with only three points in 19 previous games this season, but he was a man on fire Friday, pacing the Griffins with two goals, including the game-winner, while recording a game-high six shots.
"He came back from Christmas and had a fantastic week of practice, so he got bumped up in the lineup," said Dailey. "He's continued to earn his time up with those top players.
"I'm happy to see him get rewarded because he's someone who works hard for us. He does the little things right and doesn't always get rewarded, so that was great to see tonight."
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025
Marc Pasemko opens the scoring for @MacEwanGriffins midway through the first period against @umbisons, finishing off a 3-on-1!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/8OdBUd3brC
Marc Pasemko opened the scoring midway through the first with his team-leading ninth goal of the season, finishing off a 3-on-1 with Ethan Sundar and Carter Chorney.
Then Ryan put MacEwan ahead 2-0 with 3:31 left in the opening frame, taking a pass from Hunter Donohoe and scoring on his own rebound. On the play, Donohoe broke the program record for the most assists by a Griffin in a Canada West season.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025
Captain Sean Comrie gives @MacEwanGriffins a 3-0 lead after one with a sizzling one-timer slapshot!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/aXKHVNeZa8
Before the first was out, Sean Comrie put the Griffins up by three, one-timing a slapshot from the left hash off a cross-seam powerplay pass from Loeden Schaufler.
Donohoe added his second assist of the game – and record 17th of the season – when he fed rookie Caden Cabana for the Griffins' fourth goal midway through the second period.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025
Caden Cabana!
Wins the draw and blasts home the @MacEwanGriffins's fourth of the game.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/ghr6fBQY9o
Then Ryan completed MacEwan's scoring run for the evening, sneaking in as the trailer and back-handing a pass from Sam Simard into a yawning cage.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 25, 2025
Liam Ryan has two!
And the @MacEwanGriffins hold a 5-1 lead over @umbisons after 40 minutes.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/zYrdqQERIs
"There were some really good passing plays from our group, so there was definitely some offensive flair," said Dailey. "They weren't the go-to-the-net-hard-working goals. There were some really good passing plays.
"But I think that bit us at the end where we were trying that too much. We should have got to the net a little bit more."
They also should have stayed out of the box more. The Bisons scored three of their four comeback goals with the man advantage – two by dangerous former Prince George Cougars captain Jonny Hooker.
"I think we took too many penalties and they have a really good powerplay, which is something we knew going in," said Dailey. "Then we gave them seven opportunities. So, definitely not a recipe to be successful. But I'm proud of the way we bent but didn't break and still found a way to get a win."
At the end, Logan Dowhaniuk came up with one of the most important plays of the game for the Griffins, lunging in the neutral zone to block what would have been a home-run stretch pass to send Hooker in on a breakaway with 19 seconds left.
"Just a really important play, and great awareness to be there," said Dailey. "That's something we talked about in the timeout is they're going to be shooting for offence and sending guys into the neutral zone, so really good awareness by him and really good execution taking away the pass."
Griffins goaltender Brett Epp also played his part in the win, finishing with 22 saves.
"Epp, I thought, played quite well, despite what the score says," said Dailey. "He made some really big saves early on, so he had another good performance for us."
