Omdahl, Special Teams Power Bobcat Blowout
AUSTIN, MN – Shane Omdahl poured in a hat trick and the Bismarck Bobcats bounced back from a frustrating Friday with a resounding 5-1 win on the road over the Austin Bruins Saturday at Riverside Arena.
The Bobcats’ penalty kill went 9-for-9 while the power play notched a pair of goals and the top line of Omdahl, Patrick Moore and Adam Knochenmus combined for four goals and seven assists to key the Cats’ attack.
“I actually wrestled with the decision all day of whether I’d keep that line together,” admitted Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie on his top-scoring veteran unit. “But they work so well together so I stuck with them and they came up big for us tonight.”
After the two teams battled to a standstill through the first ten minutes of the game, Omdahl got the Bobcat offense started, tapping in a centering feed from Moore with 8:49 to go in the first period, putting the visitors ahead 1-0.
Before Omdahl’s goal could even be announced over the Riverside Arena P.A., Patrick Moore led a 3-on-1 rush into the Bruins zone and blasted a frozen rope over the glove of Austin netminder Nicholas Lehr, doubling the lead to 2-0 just 18 seconds after the opening strike.
Joe Giordano capped the Cats’ three-goal outburst in the first, chipping a rolling shot that deflected off a Bruin defender, over Lehr and in with 5:25 to go in the opening frame to make it 3-0 Bobcats.
Austin got on the board early in the second when C.J. Smith found some space to grab a Brandon Wahlin rebound and pop it in past Bobcat goalie Aaron Nelson, spoiling the Bismarck native’s shutout bid 5:16 into the stanza and cutting the Cats’ lead to 3-1.
The Bruins struggled to get any closer in the second as the Bobcat penalty kill negated all five Austin power plays in the period.
“We couldn’t really play our game in the second because we spent a lot of time in the box,” assessed Sedevie, “but we had some guys step up, guys like Filip Starzynski and Sam Coborn, and really work hard to keep a really strong ‘PP’ off the board.”
Omdahl pushed the lead back to three goals with 5:48 to go in the game, collecting a Knochenmus rebound on the power play and stretching it past Lehr to push it to 4-1.
The second-year forward sent Bruins fans heading for the exits 3:22 later, tapping in a back-door pass from Knochenmus—again on the power play—for the final 5-1 score.
Following some big saves in the first period, Nelson quietly piled up 22 saves to improve to 4-1-1 while Lehr managed just 15 saves, suffering his third loss in regulation of the season.
With the win, the Bobcats wrap up their three-week, four-state road trip with a 3-2-1 record.
The Bobcats will play an exhibition game Tuesday against the Minot Minotauros in Dickinson as part of kick-off night for the Dickinson Hockey Club. Tuesday’s exhibition is scheduled for an 8:00 PM, CST, start time. Fans can find more information, including where to buy tickets, at BismarckBobcats.com.
Regular season action resumes Friday as the Bobcats host the opening round of the Titan Machinery Dakota Cup as the Aberdeen Wings pay their first visit of the season to the VFW Sports Center for a 7:15 rematch of the 2012 Central Division Semifinals, which the Cats claimed 3-games-to-1.
Friday’s rivalry showdown 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 6:45.
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.