Bobcats Special Teams Falter in Road Loss
ABERDEEN, SD – A shaky night on the penalty kill cost the Bismarck Bobcats a 5-2 loss Friday against the Aberdeen Wings—their first loss to the Wings since March 12, 2015—at Odde Ice Center.
Dealing with an early penalty kill, the Bobcats could not hold the Wings off the board as Shawn Knowlton struck from the right wing circle 7:20 into the game to lift Aberdeen to a 1-0 lead.
Knowlton doubled the score to 2-0 with 8:04 left in the first with another power play strike, beating Bobcat goalie Will Ulrich high to the stick side from the exact same spot as his first tally.
Just 47 seconds later, on a different power play, defenseman Andrew Carroll made it 3-0 for Aberdeen, beaming a low shot through traffic that Ulrich could not track.
Bobcat winger Parker Mismash got the visitors on the board 1:16 after Carroll scored, gaining the puck on a wall battle from Matt Barry and ripping a rising shot over the glove of Aberdeen netminder Arttu Kulmala to bring the Cats within 3-1 after one.
Wings forward Carson Dimoff ended Ulrich’s night 8:26 into the second, chipping in a Tyler Bossert rebound to reassert a three-goal lead for Aberdeen at 4-1. Williston native Camden Haugenoe replaced Ulrich, stopping all seven shots that came his way in the middle frame.
Seconds after their first successful penalty kill of the night, the Bobcats got back to within 4-2 as Barry snapped in a one-timer from Jarret Mari with 3:45 left in the period for his seventh goal of the season.
Bossert merited the only goal of the third, cushioning the Aberdeen advantage to 5-2 with the Wings’ only goal against Haugenoe 5:00 into the stanza.
From there, the Wings stifled the Bobcat offense, including killing a 5-on-3 power play to run out the clock on a 5-2 win.
Ulrich suffered his fifth loss of the season on 13 saves; Haugenoe went 17-for-18 but did not factor into the decision. Kulmala improved to 5-6-0 behind 32 stops.
The Bobcats will try for a split in Aberdeen Saturday with a 7:15pm rematch at Odde Ice Center.
Saturday’s series finale will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270 AM, and worldwide on HockeyTV.com–the web television partner of the North American Hockey League–with pregame coverage starting at 7:15pm.
Season tickets are now on sale for the Bobcats’ landmark platinum anniversary campaign fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of Season Twenty now by calling 222-3300.