Forward Danny Katic tallied two goals in the Bloomington Bison's first ECHL win against the Iowa Heartlanders on Thursday night.
Forward Danny Katic tallied two goals, and the Bloomington Bison picked up their first win in franchise history on Thursday night.
The Bison defeated the Iowa Heartlanders in a back-and-forth game that saw the visitors pull away in the latter stages of a 4-2 final score.
Jackson Leppard and Brett Budgell also found the back of the net. Meanwhile, eight different skaters registered at least one point in the win. Goaltender Mark Sinclair made 26 saves on 28 shot attempts.
The Bison took their first lead in franchise history on Leppard's first of the year, just 42 seconds into the second period.
The Bloomington forward led a 2-on-1 rush into the offensive zone and kept the puck himself before rifling a shot past Heartlanders netminder William Rousseau.
After defenseman Jake Murray was called for a tripping minor, Iowa capitalized on the man advantage and tied the game on Will Calverley's shot from just below the left-wing circle.
However, Bloomington responded with a goal less than two minutes later.
Leppard skated quickly through the offensive zone and curled in tight before getting a shot off. Rousseau turned aside the initial chance, but Budgell was right there to clean up the loose puck.
Later in the frame, Iowa again tied the game at 2-2 on Dakota Raabe's marker from the left side of the cage.
The Bison responded late in the second period on Katic's first goal. Forward Sahil Panwar patiently skated with the puck below the net before finding Katic alone in the slot for the one-timer.
With 13 minutes left in regulation, Sinclair made a sprawling save to preserve Bloomington's 3-2 lead.
Katic added his second from long distance with Iowa's net empty to seal the victory.
The Bison and Heartlanders will wrap up their two-game series in Bloomington on Saturday, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. CST.