First Period Outburst Carries Bobcats at Aberdeen
ABERDEEN, SD – The Bismarck Bobcats exploded for three goals in the first period and goalie Hunter Shepard did the rest, stopping 36 of 37 shots to deliver the Cats a 4-1 victory Friday over the Aberdeen Wings at the Odde Ice Center.
Absorbing an early flurry from Aberdeen that saw the Wings take six of the game’s first seven shots and hit the crossbar in the opening minutes, the Bobcats struck first when Jared Resseguie stole the puck at center, creating a breakaway that the rookie cashed in off the glove of netminder Peter Thome 7:13 into the contest for a 1-0 lead.
Though it took Resseguie until his 13th appearance to score his first goal, it only took him 7:37 to collect his second: the rookie center used a short feed from Parker Mismash to find a seam in the Aberdeen defense and blaze a wrister over Thome’s glove to double the advantage to 2-0.
With 61 seconds left in the opening frame, Alex Strand put an exclamation mark on the visitors’ offensive burst, pushing the score to 3-0 by chipping home a Harrison Aide rebound on the rush.
Shepard came up big in the second, denying a Jackson Graalum breakaway and ranging to his left to turn away a 2-on-1 opportunity by Kevin Fitzgerald to keep the Bobcats ahead by three heading into the final frame.
Aberdeen finally broke the second-year keeper’s spell with 5:24 left in the game when Tyler Bossert beat Shepard five-hole on the rush to get the Wings right back into the game at 3-1.
Following Bossert’s strike, the Bobcat defense locked down: Aberdeen only managed one more shot on net the rest of the game.
Aide would put the game on ice for the Cats, guiding a 100-footer into the empty net with 1:32 to go after Thome was pulled for the extra attacker for the final 4-1 count.
Thome matched Shepard’s 36 saves but fell to 3-7-0. Shepard picked up his fourth win in five starts
The Cats now get four days of downtime before heading up US-83 for their first visit of the season to Maysa Arena to face the archrival Minot Minotauros Tuesday at 7:05pm.
Tuesday’s rivalry grudge match will be broadcast live locally on SuperTalk 1270 AM, the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, and worldwide online at NAHL.FASTHockey.com—the official web television partner of the North American Hockey League—with pregame coverage starting at 7:00pm.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2015-16 campaign at a pro-rated discount; if you want to beat the rush of 40,000 fans for this season, now is the time! Call 222-3300 today to reserve your seats.
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