ABERDEEN, SD – The Bismarck Bobcats attempted to rally on the road for their fourth win in five games but couldn’t come up with an equalizer, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Aberdeen Wings at Odde Ice Center on Friday.
Trailing 4-2 late in the third period, the Bobcats closed the gap to one goal with 1:57 left when Brett Bower lined home a Charlie Mosey rebound past Wings goalie Hunter Leisner.
The Bobcats nearly dialed up a tying goal in the final 45 seconds when another rebound came to Frank DeAugustine, but his put-back attempt rolled wide. Leisner stymied the visitors’ last gasps after the near-miss, clinching the Wings’ second straight win.
Aberdeen opened the scoring over halfway through the first period when Wings forward Dane Shaugabay redirected a Lane Mahoney shot past Bobcat netminder Ryan Faragher with 9:15 left in the opening frame to seize a 1-0 lead.
That lead stretched to 2-0 3:54 into the second period when Tim Tuscher, alone in front of the Bobcats net, tipped home a centering feed from Mack Ohnsted.
Tuscher’s goal seemed to wake up the Bobcat offense, however, as three minutes later DeAugustine found Dan Zawacki with a pass in front and Zawacki drove in his own rebound to cut it back to a one-goal game at 2-1.
Tyler Underhill put the Wings back ahead by two with 10:42 left in the second when the Bobcat defense blocked a transition shot from Rudi Pino that deflected right to a wide-open Underhill, who tapped in the loose puck to make it 3-1 in favor of Aberdeen.
The see-saw affair continued 62 seconds later when Leisner scrambled out of his net and mis-played an attempted clear right to DeAugustine; DeAugustine dropped the puck to a wide-open Emerson Auvenshine, who hammered the puck into the vacated net.
Aberdeen reclaimed the two-goal lead 6:02 into the final frame when Paul Prescott tipped a clear-in from Mitch Sand off Faragher and into the net, making it 4-2 and setting the stage for the last-minute drama.
The game opened with fireworks, as Bobcat defenseman Will Preston squared off to fight with Tuscher in a rematch of the scrap at the tail end of the Wings’ last visit to the VFW Sports Center on October 1st.
Leisner made 35 saves to secure his third win of the year while Faragher fell to 5-3-1 behind 30 saves.
The Bobcats return home Friday to open a two-game home series against the Coulee Region Chill—the team with whom they are tied atop the Central Division—starting with a 7:15 PM puck drop at the VFW Sports Center.
Friday’s first-place showdown will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at http://nahl.fasthockey.com/. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:45 PM CT.
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