The Bismarck Bobcats returned to home ice for 2 of their 3 home games in the month of December as they took on the North Iowa Bulls.
The 1st period looked a bit back and forth, but while the Bobcats were on the power play, the Bulls carried it into the offensive zone, completed a line change, and fed a pass into the middle for Joe Coghlin who one-timed a puck into the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. That was the 5th shorthanded goal the Bobcats let up this season. That lit a spark under the Bobcats as the Cats responded under 2 minutes later with a tally on the man advantage. Cooper Williams one-timed a puck into the back of the net to tie the game at 1 for his 21st of the season. Just 59 seconds later Camden Pantekoek found himself backdoor and Jimmy Dodig found him with a slick pass for Pantekoek’s 1st career NAHL goal in his NAHL debut to give the Cats a 2-1 lead. Late in the period, Camden Alemond slipped behind the defender and Gianni DiVita found Alemond who tucked it home to give the Cats the 3-1 lead heading into the intermission.
Moving ahead to the 2nd period, it only took the Bulls 10 seconds to find the back of the net. Denis Kuzmenkov found the deflection in the left-wing circle which hopped just over the shoulder of Dane Callaway to cut the deficit to just one goal. The rest of the period flowed very quickly with minimal stoppages as the Cats took a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd period.
Moving ahead to the 3rd period, the Cats didn’t let North Iowa get a shot on goal until 5 minutes into the period, those efforts proved strong as midway through Williams notched his 2nd of the contest and league-leading 22nd of the season to make it a 4-2 contest. The Bulls didn’t have a response as Charlie Kresl netted the empty-net goal to seal the deal and give the Bobcats 5-2 victory.
Callaway was sharp as a tack as he stopped 25/27 in the victory.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, it was teddy bear toss night at the VFW Sports Center! The Cats didn’t have to wait long as late in the 1st period, while on the power play, Alemond received a pass from Williams and it was a back-door tap-in for Alemond to make it a 1-0 contest in favor of the Bobcats. They would take the 1-0 lead into the intermission while outshooting North Iowa 15-7.
Just like Friday however, North Iowa would roar back with a solid period in the 2nd, outshooting the Cats 17-13. Bismarck would tally the 1st goal of the 2nd as Eddie Revenig one-timed the puck into the back of the net on a nice feed from Kresl to double the Bobcat lead. The Bulls would finally get on the board, just past the midway point of the period as Ivan Bercik made a beautiful move on the breakaway to beat Marko Bilic and cut the deficit in half. It only took Bismarck seconds to respond as on the power play, Fanda Broz tapped home a rebound off of Alemond’s shot to bring the Cats up 3-1. Bismarck would take the 3-1 lead into the 3rd period.
North Iowa wouldn’t go away without a fight, 3 minutes into the final frame, while on the power play once again, the Bulls struck courtesy of a nice play from Michael Malatino who notched his 11th of the season. The goal-scoring would slow down until the final 5 minutes of the game. Broz, once again, on the doorstep would fire home his 2nd power play goal of the contest to make it a 4-2 game. Bismarck would go shorthanded with about 3 minutes remaining, prompting North Iowa to pull their goaltender for the 6 on 4. All it took Ben Rakowski was a couple of seconds as he found a lane into the empty-net to make it a 5-2 hockey game. Just when you thought it was over, North Iowa would strike 47 seconds later on the power play as Kuzmenkov deflected a puck into the back of the net to bring the game back within 2. North Iowa would once again pull their goaltender off the faceoff and the captain Gianni DiVita wristed the puck home to send the fans home happy with a 6-3 victory and the weekend sweep.
Bilic was spectacular, stopping 30/33 in the victory and improving to 2-0-0 on the season.
The Cats will hit the road next weekend to close out the 1st half of the season as they take on the Watertown Shamrocks. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. both nights! Be sure to get your tickets for future contests by calling the Bobcat Hotline at 701-390-7422 or by logging onto tickets.bismarckbobcats.com