Photo by: Hope Magelky
The Bismarck Bobcats hopped back on the bus this past weekend to take on the Watertown Shamrocks at Prairie Lakes Ice Arena.
Well the Bobcats couldn’t really have gotten off to a better start. It only took 33 seconds for Cooper Williams to snipe home his team-leading 7th of the season and extend his point streak to 5 games. Bismarck would continue to keep the pressure on throughout the first half of the opening period, however, Watertown responded with some pressure of their own as the period went on. Defenseman Patch Cronin took a puck to the face and goaltender Kai Weigel was unable to locate the puck as it trickled onto the stick of Junior Podein who fired it home to tie the game at 1. The Bobcats would slimly outshoot the Shamrocks 13-12 in the opening frame as the game entered the 2nd tied.
Bismarck took control early once again in the period and went on a scoring spree. Just 23 seconds into the period Gianni DiVita struck for the Bobcats to regain the lead over Watertown 2-1. Just a couple of minutes later on a beautiful passing display, Eddie Revenig would rip his 3rd of the season into the back of the net to extend the lead to 3-1. Already on a roll, the Bobcats would be put on the man advantage as Williams fired home his 2nd of the contest to make it a 4-1 advantage. Later in the period, on the power play once again, Camden Alemond received a pass in the left wing circle and made no mistake going post and in for his 2nd of the year as the Bobcats took a 5-1 lead. Watertown wouldn’t go away quietly, however, as they notched a power play goal of their own backdoor feed to make it a 5-2 game. The Bobcats would take the 5-2 lead into the 3rd period.
Moving to the 3rd period, Watertown would get a quick goal just 2 and a half minutes in to make things interesting and close the gap to 5-3. From that point on, the Bobcats would manage the game well and notch the empty-net goal courtesy of Williams who completes the hat trick and seals the 6-3 win for the Bobcats.
Kai Weigel started between the pipes once again for the Cats and notched his 4th straight victory stopping 19/22.
Moving ahead to Sunday’s contest, the Bobcats looked to earn their 5th victory in 6 games as Dane Callaway got the nod in between the pipes.
The Bobcats, for the 10th time in 11 games, would find the back of the net first, despite Watertown coming out of the gates with intensity. Veteran forward George Poirier was able to find the back of the net for his 2nd of the season to make it 1-0 Cats just over 4 minutes into the period. Watertown would continue to put pressure on and end the period with 13 shots on goal, but Callaway slammed the door shut. Shots on goal after the opening period read 13-9 in favor of Watertown.
The 2nd period was a similar display to Saturday’s game as the Bobcats’ offense erupted once again. Just 3 minutes into the 2nd, on the eve of his birthday, Noah Ziskie fired a puck home from the right-wing circle to double the Bobcat lead to 2-0. Just 4 minutes later on the power play, it would be Poirier striking once again for the Bobcats with his 2nd of the game as the Bobcats would begin to pull away. Later that period, Bismarck found themselves on the man advantage once again and Ben Osiashvili would rip a one-timer into the back of the net for his first career NAHL goal and the Cats had a commanding 4-0 lead that they would take into the 3rd period of play.
Ziskie wanted to join the multi-goal party with Poirier as he was the beneficiary of a net-front scramble as he tapped it home to make it 5-0 Bobcats. Bismarck went on cruise control from there, limiting the Shamrocks to 9 shots in the period and 12 across the final 40 minutes of play. The final buzzer sounded signaling the end of play, and the Bobcats completed the weekend sweep.
Callaway stopped all 25 that came his way and notched his first win in a Bobcat uniform.
The Bobcats move to 7-4-0 on the season after the weekend sweep and are back in action next Friday and Saturday against the Minnesota Mallards on the road. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. on both nights. Tickets for future Bobcat games can be purchased at the following link, https://tickets.bismarckbobcats.com or by calling/texting the Bobcat Hotline at 701-390-7422.