Bison Score Four Unanswered, Down Heartlanders in Overtime
ECHL Bloomington Bison

Bison Score Four Unanswered, Down Heartlanders in Overtime

Published on November 26, 2025 under ECHL (ECHL)
Bloomington Bison News Release


Coralville, Iowa - Eddie Matsushima scored twice and the penalty kill negated nearly seven-straight minutes of late-game Iowa powerplay time as the Bloomington Bison capped off a three-goal comeback with a 4-3 overtime defeat of the Iowa Heartlanders at Xtream Arena Wednesday.

The Bison created their best scoring chances of the opening period within the first minute before Iowa took charge. Daniel Tedesco created a turnover from the Heartlanders netminder behind his cage and centered a pass to Brett Budgell, who had an opportunity stopped by the left pad from the top of the crease. Jonny Evans was then denied a stuff-in attempt moments later and after a period of Heartlanders pressure, Iowa came up with three goals in a five-and-a-half-minute span. Nikita Sedov made an athletic skate block to break up a two-on-one rush by sliding prone toward his net but Bloomington was not able to clear the zone, and Iowa scored on the sequence from the blue line at 11:55. The Heartlanders scored on a screened shot from the far-side boards to take a 2-0 lead at 15:11 and increased its lead to 3-0 with a powerplay goal with two minutes and 48 seconds left in the frame.

Tides turned for the Bison in the second stanza, however, and Bloomington scored the only two goals of the period. Moments after successfully killing a carryover tripping penalty, Matsushima potted his fifth goal of the season from Mikael Robidoux just one minute and 49 seconds in. The goal marked Matsushima's sixth-straight game with a point and third straight with a goal. Bloomington climbed to within one goal at 6:56 when Budgell stole the puck off an Iowa skate at his own blue line, took it up ice, cut away from a defender at the faceoff dot and slid it past the outstretched netminder to bring up the 3-2 score. Sullivan Mack hit two posts down the stretch as Bloomington continued to press for more offense, but goaltender Dryden McKay remained sharp as well. Iowa tried for a shorthanded slap shot off the rush with under seven minutes remaining and McKay made a key pad stop. Through 40 minutes, the shots were knotted at 19 for each team.

A divisive third period began with Iowa enjoying a 6-2 shot run and extended possession time over the first few minutes. Cullen Ferguson stopped the puck on Bloomington's goal line six minutes in, in what later proved to be an important moment. Three minutes later, Kohei Sato tied the game with his first goal of the season at 9:10. The play was initially ruled "no goal," as Shane Ott was pushed down to the ice and collided with Iowa's goaltender before Sato scored, but after a lengthy review, the call was overturned. The Bison were not credited with another shot on goal after the tying mark, and the penalty kill was put to work for the remainder of regulation. A match penalty was assessed to Brenden Datema at 13:41 for slew-footing, and with seven seconds remaining in the penalty, Parker Gavlas was called for tripping. Both teams committed uncalled infractions during the extended Iowa powerplay, but the shorthanded Bison remained in control and forced overtime with 34 seconds of carryover penalty time.

After the Bison stopped Iowa's man-advantage group for a sixth time in the game, Matsushima cemented the comeback 66 seconds into the extra frame. Ferguson and Tedesco earned assists on the goal, and Tedesco's shot from the boards created the game-ending rebound for Matsushsima. McKay stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced for his third win in the last four starts.

The Bison return to Grossinger Motors Arena for a 309 Night featuring $3 Busch Lights, $0 popcorn and $9 specialty T-shirts on Friday, November 28th against the Iowa Heartlanders! Single-game tickets are now available for ALL Bloomington Bison home games starting as low as $20! Visit ticketmaster.com or call 309-965-HERD to purchase tickets today.

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