T-Birds comeback falls short in 6-5 OT loss against Bisons

The comeback was on in the third period for the Frog Lake T-Birds – they just couldn’t hang on.

Stuck two goals to the fast and physical Wainwright Bisons to start the frame, Tobie Opikokew sniped from 40 feet on the powerplay to make the game 4-3.

Not forty seconds later, the puck came out to Tyrone Potts and he roofed it to level the game with still 14 minutes left in the period.

The T-Birds, who started the first period on their heels and prey to the Bisons forecheck, had a lot of life, and that second line fired again.

Peter Horse’s second goal of the game gave the T-Birds their first lead of the night. But it did not last.

Curtis Scales was called for slashing with 2:17 left. The Bisons pulled their netminder to make it a 6-on-4 advantage, and even drew another penalty, a trip by the hands of defenceman Jayden Cantre, with 49 seconds remaining.

That three-man advantage worked the puck around the T-Birds who lost the draw in their own zone and had the puck slide past Justin Fedoruk.

The fans and players were upset with the late penalty calls, and the game went to overtime.

Kailin Becher scored his third of the game and the Bisons were able to survive the T-Birds charge and win their 11th game of the season 6-5 in OT.

The game showed that when the T-Birds are skating and playing physical, they can keep up with any team in the league.

The loss snaps their three game winning streak, and the T-Birds still sit in seventh in the logjam that is the North Eastern Alberta Junior B League.