Dojahn, Carothers provide heroics as Pandas force Game 3

EDMONTON, AB – Trailing by one in the third period and staring elimination in the face, Mackenzie Dojahn and Hailey Carothers provided the heroics as Pandas Hockey forced a winner-take-all Game 3 with a 4-2 win over the Manitoba Bisons.

Dojahn stopped 34 Bisons shots, including all 16 faced in the third period alone, as the Bisons hemmed Alberta in their own zone for a majority of the final frame. The lone scoring chance for Alberta in the final 20 came off the stick of Carothers, as her goal of the year proved to be the game-winner for the Pandas.

"I think we owe that game to Mackenzie. We were under siege in that third period. She came up huge, making four or five big saves," said Pandas head coach Howie Draper. "That level of performance gave us some wind to fill the sails, and ultimately that helped."

Abbey Bourdeaud'hui, Ryann Perrett, and Natalie Kieser also scored for the Pandas, who will host Game 3 tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. MT.

Sophia Heidinger and Kelsey Huibers scored the two Bisons goals less than one minute apart in the second period, but the visitors couldn't find the insurance marker later despite multiple chances. After 18 saves and the first goalie goal in Canada West women's hockey history on Friday, Emily Shippam made 18 saves in Saturday's loss.

The visitors, as they did in Game 1, were the better team early, outshooting Alberta 6-1 in the opening minutes. However, a late power play for Alberta turned momentum, which was followed by Bourdeaud'hui's first of the playoffs to give the Pandas a 1-0 lead after one.

Manitoba stole the game back and took the lead with two goals 46 seconds apart in the second. First, Heidinger took advantage of a big rebound kicked into the slot, beating Dojahn clean. Huibers quickly gave the Bisons a 2-1 lead as she sliced through the Pandas defence before beating Dojahn on a breakaway.

The Pandas found the game-tying goal four minutes into the third, as Perrett scored her second of the series off a bad turnover deep in the Bisons zone. The following 15 minutes were a shooting clinic for the Bisons, who couldn't beat a red-hot Dojahn.

"They work hard around the puck, and they are a very skilled team. We can't give them the puck as much, and we need better support and better puck movement tomorrow. And we got away from that this game," said Draper.

Carothers potted the game-winner in the final four minutes, before Kieser sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final 30 seconds, the fifth playoff goal of her career.