Bobcats Pay First Visit to Austin of 2015-16
Matchup: Bismarck Bobcats (8-9-0, 5th Central) vs Austin Bruins (11-9-1, 2nd Central)
Games: Friday, November 20, 7:05pm; Saturday, November 21, 7:05pm
Venue: Riverside Arena, Austin, Minn.
Season Series: Bobcats lead 3-1-0
All-Time: Bobcats lead Bruins 29-19-2
Radio: SuperTalk 1270 AM, SuperTalk1270.com and the radioPup smartphone app, 6:35pm both nights
Web TV: http://NAHL.FASTHockey.com, 6:35pm both nights
AUSTIN, MN – Fresh off a home split with the defending division champs, the Bismarck Bobcats are back on the road for another weekend against the Austin Bruins, making their first visit to Spamtown for a two-game series starting Friday at Riverside Arena.
A season ago, the Cats were swept in their only visit to Austin, suffering setbacks of 4-2 and 5-2 to drop their season series against the B’s three games to one.
This past weekend, the Bobcat offense struggled with consistency, exploding for six goals—tied for their season-high—in Friday’s 6-4 win before struggling to convert what scoring chances they did get amid Saturday’s 3-2 defeat.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this team has the talent to put up a lot of goals, as we saw on Friday,” illustrated Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie, whose team presides over the 13th-ranked offense in the NAHL at 2.82 goals per game. “The problem is that the next night we have great chances on five straight power plays in the second and miss a wide-open net less than a minute before Austin gets the game-winner.
“This team can go far once the offense can get a consistent performance from night to night.”
Austin, meanwhile, continues to boast the Central Division’s best offense at 3.43 goals per game, thanks to 18 points each from Jade Miller (11g, 7a) and Gilbert Gabor (8g, 10a); the two veteran linemates combined for three goals last weekend, including Gabor’s game-winner Saturday.
Bruins netminder Kristofer Carlson leads the Central with nine wins; Bobcat goalie Hunter Shepard carries the division’s second-best GAA at 2.08, percentage points behind Minot’s Jon Flakne at 2.05.
The series begins Friday with a 7:05pm duel, with the weekend finale to follow Saturday at the same time.
Friday’s rematch will be broadcast live locally on SuperTalk 1270, KLXX-AM, the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, and worldwide online at NAHL.FASTHockey.com—the official web television partner of the North American Hockey League—with pregame coverage starting at 6:35pm.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2015-16 season at a pro-rated price; if you want to beat the rush of over 40,000 fans for this year, now is the time! Call 222-3300 to reserve your seats today.