ABERDEEN, S.D.–The Bismarck Bobcats and Aberdeen Wings have faced off since the fall of 2010. The Bobcats posted their largest victory ever in the series Thursday night at the Odde Ice Center.
A 6-0 Bismarck win is the first shutout in Aberdeen since February 18, 2017. It is the team’s most lopsided shutout win since a 7-0 defeat of Austin on February 1, 2014.
Further, the Bobcats had not defeated the Wings by six or more goals until Thursday.
“We were ready,” head coach Layne Sedevie said. “That is as ready as it is going to get. That is the most complete game we have played, by far … That is a gritty win. We played the game the right way and got rewarded.”
The Bobcats scored twice in each period. All six goals came from different scorers: Calvin Hanson, Adam Pietila, Brandon Reller, Vertti Jantunen, Drew Holt, and Chase Beacom. The only player with multiple points was Jantunen.
Only one of the six had scored a goal in 2023 before Thursday: Drew Holt. The other five scorers broke droughts of at least four games.
The injury bug struck the Bobcats in an unfortunate way late in the first period. Forwards Jake McLean and Logan Valkama left for the remainder of the game, giving Sedevie only 11 forwards and three centers to work with. In a pivotal spot, up 2-0 to begin the second, Bismarck scored on its first two shots to take a 4-0 lead.
“We put ourselves in a great spot,” Sedevie said. “You never can take anything for granted, and I think that is what the group did really well tonight. They stuck with what worked to get us to the spot we were in, and we did not stray from it.”
The recent success on the defensive end continued with the Bobcats’ second shutout of the 2022-23 season. Over their last five games, the team has allowed six goals, and just three at 5-on-5 play.
“Our defense was really good,” Sedevie said. “We protected the house really well. I thought the details to our game were really good. In the neutral zone, we understood our assignments, and (Aberdeen) turned a lot of pucks over because of it. I thought all three zones were really solid tonight.”
Bismarck goes for a series-clinching victory on home ice Friday night. Puck drop is at 7:15 p.m. and tickets are on sale at tickets.bismarckbobcats.com. Fans can listen to the game live on SuperTalk 1270 and watch on HockeyTV.