The Bismarck Bobcats were on home ice this past weekend for their only home series throughout the month of October.
Friday night from the get-go it was ALL Bobcats. Shots on goal were 22-4 in the opening minutes and the Bobcats barraged the Norsemen on the scoresheet. Just after the midway point of the opening period, defenseman Alexander Stephen worked his way into the slot and fired a shot along the ice that caught the inside of the near post and tucked into the back of the net. That was Stephen’s 2nd goal of the season which made it 1-0 Cats. Just under 3 minutes later on the man advantage Bismarck would strike once again courtesy of Gianni DiVita to extend their lead to 2-0. Later in that period, Cooper Williams possessed the puck along the left-wing circle and fired the puck off of DiVita for his 2nd of the contest to make it 3-0 Bismarck. All things were going right for the Bobcats as they just kept rolling. 15 seconds later, Camden Alemond notched his 1st career NAHL goal on a goal-mouth scramble to make it 4-0. George Poirier would cap off a 5-goal period from the Bobcats as in his Bismarck debut, pounded home a rebound in the low slot. Forward Mark Evans also recorded 3 assists in the opening period.
Things slowed down a bit in the 2nd period. St. Cloud had a bit of a pushback and struck on the man advantage to cut the Bobcat lead to 4. However, a quick response from the Cats saw their 5-goal lead come right back as Mathias Kristiansen saw a lane down the middle of the ice and deflected a pass into the back of the net to make it 6-1 Bismarck. St. Cloud outshot Bismarck in that middle frame 13-8.
Finally, moving to the 3rd period, the Bobcats put the foot right back on the gas pedal. Williams would find the back of the net on the man advantage as Charlie Kresl fed him the seam pass right in his wheelhouse and Williams slapped it home into the open cage. Ben Rakowski would join the scoring party as he received a pass cutting into the slot and made it 8-1 Bismarck. Noah Ziskie surely could’ve had the highlight goal of the night however, as he possessed the puck at the right point, made a defender miss, and danced his way into the slot before roofing a backhander to make it 9-1. The Bobcats would cruise to victory as the final buzzer sounded.
Kai Weigel started between the pipes once again for the Cats and notched his 3rd straight victory stopping 24/25.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, the Bobcats looked to earn their fourth straight victory and back-to-back weekend sweeps.
The Bobcats would break the deadlock in the 1st period again and dominate the opening 20 minutes as the Bobcats outshot the Norsemen 14-4. Kresl would go in on the forecheck and force a defensive zone turnover. Veszi Lippai stood in the left-wing circle ready for the puck and Kresl found him right in his wheelhouse as the Bobcats struck first. They would take the 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Looking at the 2nd period, the Norsemen completely turned it around in the opening 5 minutes notching 3 goals in 2:42 to jump out to a 3-1 lead early in the middle frame. This would prompt Coach Roth to utilize his timeout to slow things down. The Cats would pick things up, but Liden for the Norsemen kept the door shut. St. Cloud would take the 3-1 lead into the final frame.
24 seconds into the 3rd, while on the man advantage the Norsemen would strike to take a three-goal lead. Bismarck didn’t go away quietly however. Midway through the 3rd, the Bobcats worked it through the neutral zone on a 3 on 2 and Ziskie would once again find the back of the net to shrink the Norsemen lead to 2. The Bobcats would then pull the goaltender in the dying minutes and strike once again as Kresl found the back of the net to make it a 4-3 contest. The Bobcats would just run out of time, however, as the Norsemen forced the weekend split and gained the Saturday Night victory. Bismarck outshot St. Cloud in that contest 42-19.
Goaltender Dane Callaway stopped 15/19 that came his way against his former team in the effort.
The Bobcats move to 5-4-0 on the season after the weekend split and are back in action next Saturday and Sunday against the Watertown Shamrocks on the road. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. on Saturday and 6:00 P.M. on Sunday. 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.