BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats charged back from a second intermission deficit Sunday, surging to a 2-1 win in their final away game of the regular season over the North Iowa Outlaws at North Iowa Ice Arena.
Facing a 1-0 Outlaw lead after 40 minutes, the ‘Cats hit the comeback trail 4:12 into the third period when Tim Serratore took the puck off a broken play in the North Iowa zone and roofed a wrist shot over Outlaw goalie Paul Moberg’s glove to force a 1-1 tie.
That tie persisted until 7:36 showed on the third period timer and Gavin Hartzog was awarded a penalty shot after getting hooked on a mini-breakaway in the Outlaw zone.
The 6’3” right-hander carried the puck left on his backhand over the blue line before pulling hard to his right, selling a forehand shot before dragging it to his backhand—mere feet short of Moberg—and dangling a slow roller into the Outlaw net to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.
“That’s definitely the move I like to use in that situation,” said Hartzog. “Sometimes it works and other times it gets poked, but the way things set up on the penalty shot it was the perfect place to make it work.”
The Outlaws bids for an equalizer were repeatedly turned away by Bobcat goalie Ryan Faragher and his defensive corps over the final seven-plus minutes, giving the visitors their 37th win of 2009-10 and their 18th victory away from home.
The Outlaws took their 1-0 lead in the second on a Markus Gander power play goal, but could not generate any more offense past Faragher, who made 37 saves while picking up win number 22 on the year.
Moberg was again the tough-luck loser, making 37 saves but taking his 23rd loss.
The Bobcats return home to wrap up the 2009-10 regular season with a two-game series against the Albert Lea Thunder starting Friday at 7:15 PM at the VFW Sports Center.
Friday’s game will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at BismarckBobcats.com via B2 Networks. The pre-game show starts at 6:45 PM.
You won\’t want to miss any of the games this season, so order your pro-rated Season Tickets, Family Packs and Group Nights today by calling the Bobcat Hockey Office at 701-222-3300 or by e-mailing the office for more information at gobobcathockey@aol.com.
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