November 30 - Revenge is a dish best served cold.

The University of Manitoba Bisons picked a particularly cold night to extract some measure of retribution, icing the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 5-1 Friday evening.

In their previous two meetings this season, the Bisons dropped both games while at home. Saskatchewan outlasted Manitoba 3-1 in the Bisons home opener, October 12, and then got a last minute goal from Mason Wallin to edge the Herd 4-3 the very next night. Friday, the Bisons got goals from five different players on their way to defeating the No. 2-ranked Huskies.

"We need guys to contribute from all different areas," said Bisons head coach Don MacGillivray. "I thought we had some opportunities in the second period were we didn't bury them. Five-on-three, didn't score. Had opportunity to score, missed the net. Those types of things in a tight game can be the difference. But it was nice to see different guys contribute. I thought our best period of the game was the third period. We did a good job defensively. Started doing some of the little things you need to do and that was really helpful for us and hopefully we can build on that for tomorrow."

Scoring for Manitoba was Kyle Howarth, Mike Hellyer, Chris Falloon, Stewart Thiessen, and Calin Wild. At the other end of the ice, Krister Toews made 16-saves in net to pick up the win.

"Its big to win at home because we have to establish that this is our home building," said Toews. "Against Saskatchewan especially. They came in to our building last time and beat us both times. So we were a little bit upset about that. They're in our conference and I think they're number two in the nation. I think this is just a big confidence boost for us just to say that we can play with some of these top teams."

With the win, Manitoba improves to an 8-6-1 record, good for 17 points and sole possession of third place in the Canada West standings. The loss drops Saskatchewan to 10-1-3, but will remain in a tie for top spot with the idle Alberta Golden Bears (11-2-1).

Manitoba got on the score sheet early against the Canada West powerhouse Saskatchewan, when Howarth put it past Huskies netminder Russel Monette. Rick Wood and Kyle Nichols drew assists on the goal, giving the Herd a 1-0 lead at 1:45 of the first period.

The Bisons stayed on the attack, scoring on the powerplay, just under three minutes later. Manitoba captain, Rob Smith got Hellyer the puck at the right of the net. Hellyer skated into the slot and snapped a wrist shot over Monette's left shoulder. Hellyer's fifth goal of the season made it 2-0 Bisons at the 4:27 mark.

Frustrations and tempers got the better of the Huskies as they got into more penalty trouble. After Mason Wallin drew a hooking penalty, Saskatchewan defenceman Derek Endicott had some choice words that the referee took offense to and was given a ten-minute misconduct and a game misconduct. Manitoba took full advantage of the opportunity and scored 18-seconds after the penalties were assessed. Fallon took a bad-angle shot from behind the net, that hit a body in front and found its way to the back of the net. The Bisons had a three goal lead only 12:49 into the opening period.

Saskatchewan started the second period short handed and stay that way for nearly five minutes taking four successive minor penalties including a bench minor for too-many-men. Also during this time, Saskatchewan had their second expulsion of the game when defenceman Evan Schafer was charged with hitting from behind. Although short handed, the Huskies managed to kill off all penalties to remain within three of the Herd.

Theissen netted Manitoba's fourth goal at 13:47 of the second period. Travis Kornelsen skated around the net, passing to an open Theissen charging from the point. He took the pass in the slot and fired a shot over the glove hand of Monette.

The Huskies finally got on the board at the 15:02 mark of the middle period when Wallin walked out from behind the Bison net, turned and fired a shot past Krister Toews.

The third period went quickly and it was until 16:55 that Wild potted his goal, tipping it past Monette from the front of the net.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan will play game two of their weekend series, Saturday night at the Max Bell Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Vanier Cup Champion Bison football team will be honoured with a pre-game ceremony.

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