MINOT, ND–Huba Sekesi powered a productive offense while rooking goaltender Scott Albertoni earned his a win in his debut as the Bismarck Bobcats drove past the Minot Minatauros Saturday night at Maysa Arena in Minot.
Sekesi (Munich, Germany) assisted on a pair of goals in the first period, then scored in the second, building a 3-1 Bobcat lead. Albertoni (Arvada, CO) stopped 19 shots in his inaugural Bobcat affair, moving the Bobcats (10-3-0) to 20 points in the NAHL Central Division race and a share of first place with Austin.
Tyler Dunagan (Maple Grove, MN) started the scoring, assisted by Sekesi, at 3:44 of the first. Dunagan and Sekesi would each help later in the frame, setting up Collin Willox’s (Eagan, MN) second goal of the weekend at 14:30.
Minotauro Scott Dornbrock deflected a freak power-play goal past Albertoni just 15 seconds into the second, a shot that was sent in by Krisztian Nagy from the blue line, then chipped off of the back of Dornbrock’s skate. Albertoni had moved toward the corner, reading the initial play by Nagy, and the puck rolled by, cutting the Bobcat lead to 2-1.
Sekesi had an answer, finishing a centering pass from Nate Repensky (Duluth, MN) top shelf over Minotauro goalie Brandon Wildung’s left shoulder to rebuild a two-goal margin at 12:49 of the third. Jared Dedenbach (Warren, MI) then beat Wildung on a pass from Tommy Malkmus (Bismarck, ND) at 16:49 of the period, lifting the Bobcats to a 4-1 edge.
A second power-play goal by the Minotauros cut the lead to 4-2 at 7:47 of the third, but Filip Starzynski (Warsaw, Poland), who entered the game tied for the NAHL scoring lead, buried his ninth goal of the year to seal the game at 13:37.
The Bobcats continue their four-game road swing with a date at Aberdeen Friday night. Aberdeen’s loss to Brookings Saturday moved the Bobcats ahead of the Wings by a point in the Central standings. The game will be heard on Supertalk 1270 KLXX, with pregame at 6:50 p.m., and faceoff at 7:15 p.m.