ALEXANDRIA, MN – The Bismarck Bobcats saw the Alexandria Blizzard pour in three second-period goals and couldn’t recover, falling 4-2 to the red-hot Blizzard at the Runestone Center Friday.
Following a scoreless first period, the Blizzard opened the scoring on the heels of killing off a four-minute Bobcat power play when Michael Pieper bounced a shot off Ryan Faragher’s glove and into the net 4:41 into the second period to give Alexandria a 1-0 lead.
2:43 later, Simon Cedeborg-Nilsson extended the Blizzard lead on the power play, taking a Steve Zierke pass and roofing it over a sprawling Faragher for a 2-0 Alexandria edge.
Chris Franks capped the three-goal outburst with 10:30 left in the middle frame with a low slap shot through traffic that ducked under Faragher’s pads, making it 3-0 Blizzard.
Blizzard netminder Chris Kamal stymied the Bobcats through the first two-plus periods, shutting down the first 27 shots he faced before the visitors could break his spell.
The ‘Cats broke that spell with 4:45 left in regulation and replacement netminder Jake Williams pulled for an extra attacker when Tim Serratore powered a Ryan Jacobson rebound past Kamal to cut the lead to 3-1.
Franks, however, would not let the Blizzard lead slip away, adding insurance for the home side with an empty net goal with 1:29 left in the game.
Bobcat defenseman Sam Rendle scored with 13 seconds left in regulation but that was the end of the visitors’ rally as the ‘Cats dropped to 22-9-7.
The win for Alexandria is the Blizzard’s first in nine tries against the Bobcats this season.
The two sides will wrap up their weekend home-and-home series with a 7:15 PM contest at Bismarck’s VFW Sports Center on Saturday.
The 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 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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