The Carstar Okotoks Bisons took on the St. Albert Merchants this afternoon (April 3) during their Provincial matchup and got in the win column with a 6-5 victory, thanks to a late third-period goal from Adam Kirkpatrick.

The Herd would go down 1-0 early as the Merchants got themselves on the board first even though the Bisons outshot St. Albert 12-7.

In the second frame, it was all Bisons. Jady Shigehiro would get the Herds first goal, followed up by Easton Dean to give them a 2-1 lead in the second period. Daniel Tainton who had nine goals in the Heritage Junior B (HJHL) playoffs would get a tally of his own and his first of this year's Provincials. Ethan MacIntyre would add a goal of his own, giving the Bisons a commanding lead of 4-1 to enter the third period.

St. Albert wouldn't go down without a fight scoring four unanswered goals of their own to take the lead back in a 5-4 hockey game. While many teams could fold and give up going back down in that fashion, the Herd continued the stampede of shots on goal ending the game with a 44-19 lead in shots.

Kegan Law would tie the game with 3:38 left in the third, and then Adam Kirkpatrick would find the open twine just 25.3 seconds left in the game to give Okotoks their first win, in their first game at Provincials.

Bisons will take on the La Crete Lumber Barons on Thursday (April 4) with a 3:30 start time. Every game during the Provincials is being played in Peace River.

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