BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats survived a wild second period to top the expansion Aberdeen Wings 6-4 in both teams’ preseason opener Friday at the VFW Sports Center.
Leading 1-0 after the first period, the Bobcats saw the visiting Wings tally two straight scores as Matt Sanford and Cory Ward scored 38 seconds apart to push Aberdeen to a 2-1 lead with 13:27 left in the second to quiet the Bobcat faithful.
Nick Miglio had the answer 67 seconds later, however, for the home side: banging home a loose rebound past Aberdeen netminder Hunter Leisner that was initially waved off by the officials; after conferring with the goal judge, though, the goal was upheld and the score tied at two.
Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, the deadlock lasted less than two minutes when Sanford netted his second of the night on a power play strike to boost Aberdeen to a 3-2 advantage at the 10:30 mark.
Sanford’s go-ahead marker seemed to ignite the Bobcats, who poured in three straight tallies from Nikolaj Murholt-Rosenthal, Tyler Richter and Emerson Auvenshine to claim a 5-3 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Wings tried to make some noise early in the third as Rudi Pino netted Aberdeen’s second power play marker of the night, puling the visitors to within 5-4 just 29 seconds into the final frame.
Bobcat goalie Ryan Faragher held firm after Pino’s strike, keeping the net clean over the final 19:31 of the game while ‘Cats forward Dan Zawacki tacked on some insurance, beating Leisner five-hole on a mini-breakaway with 17:49 to go for the final margin of 6-4.
Faragher made 14 saves in picking up the win while Leisner took the loss, stopping 36 of 42 Bobcat shots.
The two regional rivals will wrap up their respective preseason slates Saturday night with a 7:15 PM clash at the VFW Sports Center.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2010-11 season! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving your seats for the entire season as the Bobcats look to defend the Robertson Cup!
BOBCAT HOCKEY
2010 ROBERTSON CUP CHAMPIONS