Canadiens “embarassed” by visiting Bisons

The St. Paul Canadiens hosted the Wainwright Bisons on Friday night – the second meeting of the two teams this season. The Bisons are always a difficult team to beat; When the Canadiens played them at the end of September, they put a good effort in, losing to Wainwright 5-3. That effort wasn’t quite in place this week as the Bisons easily pushed the Canadiens aside, handing them a decisive 7-1 loss.

The first period was about as even as it could be, with both teams exchanging chances and penalties back and forth. St. Paul had several opportunities to put points up on the board on the power play, but the Bisons’ penalty-killing unit was exceptional. St. Paul’s PK team also played well in the first period, but a few tense moments and great chances by Wainwright seemed to catch the Canadiens off guard, forcing them into a desperate play style.

Bailey Lonsberry (St. Paul) and Cole Johnson (Wainwright) were caught fighting with about five minutes remaining in the period. Both were given penalties and misconducts. Wainwright finally initiated the scoring with two minutes left in the first to grab a 1-0 lead before the intermission.

Wainwright came out on fire in the second period. Dalton Angeltvedt scored two goals in less than a minute to put the Bisons up by three. Alexander Astasiewicz did score for the Canadiens in the second period, but the Bisons’ lead and intensity were already looking like too much for St. Paul to handle well before Wainwright truly ran away with the game.

The Bisons scored again at the halfway mark of the second, and then three more times in the third period, walking all over St. Paul during the final 20 minutes. The Canadiens weren’t able to answer back on any of Wainwright’s four consecutive goals, bringing the final score on the night up to 7-1.

A Tough Team to Beat

Canadiens Head Coach Joe Young was brief in his comments, saying:

“I have been in this league a long time. It was one of the most embarrassing games I have ever been a part of. That’s all I have to say.”

The Bisons are never an easy team to play. They have been league champions every year since the 2015-2016 season. Their worst season in the last four years was when they lost six games in total, a season in which they outscored their opponents 179-100. This year, they are undefeated with a five-game winning streak and have outscored other teams 27-6. The good news for St. Paul? They have about a month before they have to play the Bisons again on November 16.

The Canadiens will be on the road next week, taking on Killam and Lac La Biche. They will return home to take on the Frog Lake T-Birds the following week on October 26.