Callahan Delivers Road Winner in OT
MINOT, ND – Second-year veteran Ryan Callahan struck for a game-winning goal 2:23 into overtime to help deliver the Bismarck Bobcats a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Minot Minotauros Friday at Maysa Arena.
With the game knotted 1-1 after regulation, Jeremy O’Keefe triggered a turnover at the Minot blue line that Callahan floated through traffic and through the legs of Tauros netminder Tyler Parks to deliver the Cats their third straight win and second consecutive 2-1 extra-time decision.
“Jeremy was working hard down low and got the puck out to the blue line,” recalled Callahan, who now has three goals in nine games since returning from a broken back—two of which have decided a game, “and I saw it laying there. My main goal was to keep it in the zone but it ended up going on net.
“I didn’t even see it go in.”
Callahan’s fortuitous heroics were necessary thanks to a physical, 60-minute defensive slugfest between the two in-state rivals that saw the game stay scoreless until deep into the second period.
Red-hot Bobcat forward Cory Chapman posted the Cats to a 1-0 lead with 2:25 left in the middle frame, firing a rising shot on the power play that deflected off a Minot defender and in past Parks.
Chapman now has six goals and five assists in his last 15 games to push his point total on the season to 17—sixth most among all Bobcat scorers.
Minot was able to pull even in the closing moments of the second on a 5-on-3 power play as leading scorer Jake O’Borsky banged a Jerry Laakso rebound past Bobcat goalie Aaron Nelson with just seven seconds left in the stanza.
Nelson and Parks combined for 13 saves in the third period, sending the game to bonus hockey.
In total, Nelson stymied 26 shots by Minot to collect his 17th win of 2012-13. Parks turned away 28 efforts by the Bobcats but slipped to 16-11-3 on the year.
The two sides will reconvene for the Bismarck leg of the home-and-home series Saturday at 7:15 PM at the VFW Sports Center.
Tickets for the game are on sale by calling the Bobcat Box Office at 222-3300; fans can buy and print tickets online right now at BismarckBobcats.com.
Saturday’s series finale will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide on the official internet television partner of the NAHL, FASTHockey, at http://nahl.fasthockey.com. Pregame coverage gets under way at 7:40 PM.
Pro-rated season tickets for the 2012-13 season are now on sale—and going fast! Call the Bobcat Hockey office today at (701) 222-3300 to reserve your seats for another great season of Championship Entertainment.