BLOOMINGTON — The first shutout in Bloomington Bison history belongs to goaltender Mark Sinclair, who held off 25 shots in the team’s 3-0 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday at Grossinger Motors Arena.
The Bison scored two power-play goals and an empty netter, all in the third period, in their sixth matchup against Kalamazoo. Saturday’s game came exactly one week after the teams’ most recent encounter, when Bloomington claimed a 7-2 road win.
“The guys are kind of starting to understand what we’re trying to do here and how we need to play in order to be successful,” Bison head coach Phillip Barski said after the game.
The first two periods were a defensive battle with neither side getting the upper hand. Sinclair and K-Wings starting goaltender Ty Young combined to make 43 saves in the first 40 minutes of play. Tensions boiled over with multiple fights and roughing calls in the third period, allowing the Bison to take advantage on special teams.
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Their success on the penalty kill drew praise from Sinclair after the game. “The guys were great — again, blocking shots, sticks in lanes,” he said. “Pretty much kept a lot of the stuff to the outside and made my job pretty easy most of the night.”
Saturday marked the 29-year-old’s return to Bloomington after being called up to the Belleville Senators at the end of December. He played in two AHL games, earning his first win in that league on Jan. 4, before being released back to the Bison…