Bison Fall, 4-1, in Wheeling
ECHL Bloomington Bison

Bison Fall, 4-1, in Wheeling

Published on January 3, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Bloomington Bison News Release


Wheeling, W. Va. - Shane Ott tallied a powerplay marker for his fifth goal of the season but the Bloomington Bison allowed two shorthanded goals and fell 4-1 to the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena on Saturday.

Bloomington earned the first powerplay opportunity of the game just two and a half minutes in, and the Nailers killed it off before getting one of their own three minutes later. While shorthanded, Hugo Ollas came up with a post-to-post save and the Bison successfully killed off the minor. After back-and-forth action, Bloomington drew another penalty, but it would be Wheeling who benefited from the infraction. Fifty-six seconds into its second penalty kill of the frame, the home team took a 1-0 lead. Just over two minutes later, Bloomington surrendered another shorthanded goal and headed into the intermission down 2-0 on the score sheet.

The Bison began the middle period with 65 seconds left on a carryover penalty and were successful in killing that off, in addition to another minor dished out 48 ticks into the frame. Six and a half minutes in, Nikita Sedov erased a two-on-one chance for the Nailers, and Bloomington drew a penalty on the ensuing shift at 12:50. Six seconds into the powerplay, Ott made it a 2-1 game from Sedov and Brett Budgell while Matt Hubbarde provided a screen. The Bison continued offensive pressure and Jesper Solomon-Frisell had a snapshot stopped from Mark Kaleinikovas with 5:48 left on the clock. Despite outshooting Wheeling 19-9 in the second, the Bison would not find a game-tying goal.

Bloomington created another flurry of chances early in the third, and Parker Gavlas seemed to have scored his team's second goal, but the call on the ice was confirmed as "no goal" after a video review. Ollas denied the Nailers a back-door stuff attempt four and a half minutes in, and three minutes later the Bison earned another powerplay. Bloomington registered one shot on the man-advantage and soon after completing the kill, Wheeling took a 3-1 lead off an offensive-zone faceoff win at 12:52. Bloomington put an extra attacker out, but the Nailers added an empty-net goal with 59 seconds left on the clock and the Bison were tabbed with the 4-1 loss in the only meeting of the regular season between the two clubs. Bloomington will complete a four-game road trip against the Toledo Walleye in Ohio on Sunday before returning home for back-to-back games.

Join the Bison for Star Wars Night on Saturday, January 10 when the first 1,500 fans will receive a team-branded giveaway lightsaber!

Single-game tickets are available for ALL Bloomington Bison home games starting as low as $20! Visit ticketmaster.com or call 309-965-HERD to purchase tickets today.

Check out the Bloomington Bison Statistics

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ECHL Stories from January 3, 2026


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