2019 TELUS Cup

BUFFALOES COME BACK TO BEAT TROJANS IN WILD ONE

JASON LA ROSE

THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Sam Witt, Justin Ross and Dylan James scored goals in the third period to help the Calgary Buffaloes earn a back-and-forth 6-4 win over the Tisdale Trojans on Thursday afternoon at the 2019 TELUS Cup.

The win leaves the Trojans and Buffaloes even in the standings at 2-2 and potentially sets up a logjam for second place depending on the results of the other two games Thursday.

After opening an early two-goal lead, Calgary trailed 4-3 heading to the third before rallying to end a mini two-game losing streak and deny Tisdale a third-consecutive victory.

Witt tied the game midway through the final frame, beating Trojans goaltender Bryson Garton with a harmless-looking shot from the high slot, and Carter King forced a turnover deep in the Tisdale zone before setting up Ross for the shorthanded game-winner less than two minutes later.

The Buffaloes started quick, with Heath Armstrong intercepting a pass at the Tisdale blue-line and beating Garton to the far side just 33 seconds after the puck dropped.

King doubled the advantage with a shorthanded marker at 18:49, but the Trojans struck for a pair of goals in the last 18 seconds of the first period to get the game to the intermission even.

Zac Robins had the first on the power play with 17.9 seconds left, absolutely ripping a one-timer part Garton, and Dawson Schaff got a piece of a Landon Kosior shot with 1.9 ticks remaining to get the West champions even.

The wide-open play continued early in the second period, with the teams combining for three goals in the opening six minutes.

Kalen Ukrainetz gave Tisdale its first lead at 1:43, beating Buffaloes netminder Garin Bjorklund with a backhand off the rush, only for Jayden Grubbe to tip in a shot by Dylan Witzke at 3:31 to tie the game again.

Mackenzie Carson put the Trojans back in front at 5:52, crashing the net to jam in a loose puck.

In all, the teams combined for six goals in a little over seven minutes across the first and second periods.

After Witt and Ross had put the Buffaloes ahead for good, Dylan James went five-hole on Garton to add a little bit of insurance with 1:43 left in the final stanza.

Calgary closes out the preliminary round Friday against the Halifax Macs (4 p.m. ET), right after the Trojans finish their round-robin schedule against the Toronto Young Nationals (12 p.m. ET).