Photo by Hope Magelky
The Bismarck Bobcats once again hit the road to South Dakota this time to take on the rival Aberdeen Wings for the first weekend matchup between the two teams this season.
Starting with Friday’s contest, for the 3rd straight contest, the Bobcats conceded the opening goal of the contest just 50 seconds in. Easton Edwards was uncovered in the slot and he made no mistake getting the puck past goaltender Dane Callaway to give the Wings a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats immediately responded as Royce Pietila did an incredible job holding the puck at the point as he found Charlie Kresl who snuck behind the defense and Kresl roofed a backhand shot top shelf to tie the game up at 1, just 3 minutes later. The Cats weren’t done yet. A shot rang in from the point off the stick of Mathias Kristiansen and a big rebound was given. Bismarck had two guys in front of the net and it was Ben Rakowski pounding home the rebound to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead with 13:26 to go in the opening period. The rest of the period was still high-powered offensively, but the goaltenders settled in. Bismarck would take a 2-1 lead heading into the 1st intermission, with shots reading 12-11 in favor of the Cats.
Moving ahead to the 2nd period, the Bobcats did a nice job of limiting Aberdeen’s opportunities. Just over 7 minutes into the period, Jimmy Dodig shielded the puck from a defender, peeled it off the wall with an incredible inside deke and waltzed his way into the left-wing circle before firing a hard wrister into the back of the net for his 2nd goal of the season to extend the Bobcat lead to 3-1. This time it would be Aberdeen with a quick response just 2 minutes later. A 2 on 1 rush emerged for Aberdeen and Caden Lee found Sam Scheetz who wristed one far side and under the bar on Callaway to bring the Wings back within 1. The Bobcats continued to pressure, nonetheless. The Bobcats worked the puck low to high as Noah Ziskie had the puck at the point and saw Mark Evans at the front of the net, Ziskie fired a wrist shot and Evans, uncovered, jammed the puck into the back of the net to restore the Bobcats 2-goal lead at 4-2. The period would then end a few minutes later and the Bobcats took the 4-2 lead into the final frame.
Aberdeen would show why they are the top team in the Central in that 3rd period. They outshot the Bobcats 18-7 and all it took was 4 minutes to pull back within 1 goal. Charlie Burchfield possessed the puck at a sharp angle in the left-wing circle, and saw Ziskie screening his own goaltender and just fired a harmless wrist-shot on net, but with Callaway screened, it found the back of the net to bring the score to 4-3. The ice was certainly tilted in the Wings favor, but it would be the Bobcats drawing a penalty in the last 4 minutes of the contest and heading to the power play. The Wings forced the puck free shorthanded and advanced the puck through the neutral zone on a 2 on 1 rush. The Cats defender respected the shooter and a beautiful saucer pass came across onto the tape of Matthew Martin who fired the puck home to tie the game up at 4 with 3:28 to go in the 3rd. The Bobcats were able to hunker down and force overtime as both teams would earn a point.
Moving ahead to the overtime session, the Bobcats dominated possession and in the end outshot Aberdeen 5-1. The key play occurred with 1:25 to go in OT as Aberdeen was whistled for a penalty, which sent the Cats on a 4 on 3 man advantage. Aberdeen goaltender Willum Braun held his own for most of the power play, but in the dying seconds of OT, Ziskie’s initial shot was blocked and came right back to him, Braun couldn’t see the puck, and Ziskie fired the puck back toward the net as it crossed the line with 0.4 seconds remaining in overtime.
The Bobcats extended their win streak to 5 games and pulled within 1 point of the Central Division lead.
Dane Callaway notched his 3rd straight victory in between the pipes stopping 34/38 en route to the win.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, The Wings came out of the gates with the better opportunities outshooting the Bobcats 10-6 in the opening 20 minutes. However, both goaltenders stood on their head as we entered the 2nd period scoreless. Callaway was starting in between the pipes once again for the Bobcats while Adam Dybal was in net for the Wings in the weekend finale.
Just past the midway point of the 2nd period, the Wings unleashed a shot from the point that was deflected in front of the net to break the deadlock and give Aberdeen a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats didn’t have much of a response until late in the period where defenseman Simonas Valivonis walked right down main street and ripped a shot high-blocker on Dybal to tie the game up at 1 heading into the 3rd period. Shots read 10-8 in the 2nd for a game total of 20-14 favoring the home side.
Just over 7 minutes into the 3rd period, the Wings on the man advantage would take the lead as Martin notched his 2nd goal of the weekend to restore the Wings lead at 2-1. The Bobcats were held to just 6 shots in the 3rd period and even with a late power play and the goaltender pulled were unable to find the back of the net as the Wings hit the dagger to force the weekend split with a 3-1 victory.
After the weekend series the Bobcats move 10-5-0 on the season. That was their first road loss (not including the showcase) of the season.
Bismarck will be back on home ice this Friday and Saturday to take on the North Iowa Bulls! Puck drop is set for 7:15 P.M. on both nights. You can get your tickets by texting/calling the Bobcat Hotline at 701-390-7422 or visit tickets.bismarckbobcats.com