Bad case of deja vu as Griffins lose a 3-1 lead and fall in OT for a second-straight day to Manitoba
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
|
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Manitoba | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 0 for 4 | 1 for 3 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 6 (12) | 7 (14) |
| Shots on Goal | 27 | 26 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins left two valuable points on the table this weekend.
MacEwan set out to erase the bad taste in their mouth from a 4-3 OT loss to the Manitoba Bisons on Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena, but instead it was a case of dejá vu as the Griffins let a second-straight 3-1 lead result in a 4-3 OT loss on Saturday to Manitoba.
"We sat back too much and played on our heels, and we were way too undisciplined," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey.
"Something we talked about at Christmas was that we're leading the league in minors taken, or times short-handed and that's something we needed to clean up, and it still needs work."
Myles Gauld, Kadyn Chabot and Sam Simard scored for the Griffins in the loss, as MacEwan moves to 9-8-5 on the season, putting them one point ahead of Alberta for second place in the West Division standings with the Golden Bears yet to play in Saskatchewan later on Saturday.
Manitoba got two goals from Jonny Hooker, including the game-winner in overtime, as well as tallies from Kaycee Coyle and Lucas Brennan.
The Griffins came out very strong in the opening frame outshooting Manitoba 13-2, and got goals from Gauld and Chabot just 7:50 into the contest.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 24, 2026
The @MacEwanGriffins off to a solid start again as Myles Gauld rips it home to open the scoring just 2:16 into the game vs. @umbisons#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/4DusBMJ1Ja
Chabot's 16th goal of the season, marked his 28th point of the season, which sets a new program record for points by a Griffin in a single Canada West campaign. An assist later moved him to 29 points on the season.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 24, 2026
Congrats to Kadyn Chabot, who has broken the program record for the most points by a @MacEwanGriffins player in a @CanadaWest season, netting his 28th on this powerplay snipe to put the Griffins up 2-0 vs.@umbisons!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/VjTZOBd89L
Manitoba cut the Griffins' lead in half just 1:06 later and made it 2-1, but MacEwan still looked in full control.
Simard's sixth goal of the year, a rebound tally off an Ethan Sundar shot, gave MacEwan a 3-1 lead with 5:54 remaining in the second, but the Bisons just found ways to stick around and not allow the Griffins to land a kill shot.
"It's one of those things, we came out flying, we wanted to get some revenge from yesterday, and we did, but then we seemed to be content with what we had," said Simard.
"Those are things we need to learn. We need to make sure we're dialled in and close the game out."
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 24, 2026
Rebound special!
Sam Simard puts the @MacEwanGriffins up 3-1 in the second with the finish off Ethan Sundar's initial shot.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/bJLQlLfrwA
Goals late in the period can be momentum builders and killers, and Hooker's tally with 1:11 left in the second period gave the Bisons some life, and forced the Griffins to defend a one-goal lead instead of two going into the third.
Manitoba could sense some blood in the water and started to take over the game. They outshot MacEwan 13-6 in the third and forced the Griffins into taking three penalties.
Not a good solution giving one of the conference's best power plays so many chances to tie it up.
Despite having to kill off three Bisons power plays in the third, the Griffins did the job, but allowed a heartbreaking tally with just 16 left when Brennan's shot through traffic with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker sent the game to OT.
"They have a very good power play, and we can't rely on our PK to keep bailing us out in those situations," said Dailey.
"I thought our PK was quite good, but anytime you're giving a power play that's clicking at 25 per cent, that many chances, you'll get scored on."
It was a missed opportunity for MacEwan to create some separation between them and Alberta for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
And even more frustrating when they outshot Manitoba 54-43 over the two-game weekend series and never gave up the lead until the OT winners.
"Points are important. We enter every weekend wanting to win and more importantly playing the right way, and I thought for the majority of this weekend, we did, but the last two periods to end our weekend here is not the way we want to play," said Dailey.
"I really liked our first period (today), but I feel it started to spiral with that (second period) goal with under two minutes to go. Our group struggles in pressure situations.
"Maybe they're situations we haven't been in a whole bunch, but it's disappointing. It's a good experience for us to go through this now, and hopefully down the stretch we can fix some stuff and be better for it and learn come playoffs."
HUGE SAVE!
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) January 24, 2026
Eric Ward comes up with a gem, robbing the @umbisons on a third period powerplay to keep the @MacEwanGriffins out front 3-2!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/TNvxnXSqIS
Eric Ward made 23 saves in the loss for MacEwan. He made some big saves in the final two periods, including a cross-crease lunging save to get a piece of the puck with his glove with just over five minutes left to keep it a one-goal game at the time.
"He made some big saves especially on the PK," said Dailey.
"We weren't able to get enough blocks in front of him, but I thought he was real solid, and gave us a chance to win."
MacEwan travels B.C. twice over the next two weekends. They face the UBC Thunderbirds next weekend in Vancouver, and then will battle the Trinity Western Spartans in Langley, B.C. the following week.
