BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Bobcats saw their third-period rally come up short as the fell victim to the Alexandria Blizzard 2-1 Saturday at the VFW Sports Center—their sixth straight loss to the Blizzard.
Saturday’s loss caused the Bobcats’ (22-13-3, 47 pts) edge for third place to slip to just three points over the resurgent Blizzard (20-15-4, 44 pts) while their deficit to second-place Coulee Region (23-13-4, 50 pts) grew to three points.
Alexandria opened the scoring 4:28 into the second period off a turnover forced by stickwork from Blizzard forward Tucker Coborn, who slid the puck to the front of the net to Jordan Nelson. Nelson attempted to fake out Bobcat goalie Ryan Faragher but lost the puck; the rolling puck, however, slid past Faragher as he attempted to play Nelson, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Blizzard extended their lead on another turnover by the Cats as Brent Bain wrenched a loose puck to the front of the Bobcats net to Steve Zierke, who ripped a one-time slap shot that glanced off Faragher’s helmet, off the cross bar and in with 10:41 to go in the second.
Bismarck got back into the game 7:16 into the third on the power play, with Matt Gates feeding Dan Zawacki for a five-hole goal that brought it back to a 2-1 game.
Blizzard goalie Jacob Meyers had to come up big the rest of the way, as the Cats outshot the visitors 8-0 after Zawacki’s power play strike but could not find the equalizer and fell to 0-3-1 in their last four home games—all against Alexandria.
Despite having four of their seven blueline regulars sidelined with injuries in Nick Romanick, Dalton Spicer, Charlie Aus and Dan Kovar, the Cats held the red-hot Blizzard offense to just two goals on 1 shots.
Meyers made 28 saves to secure his seventh win of 2010-11 while Faragher took the tough-luck loss on 16 saves.
The Bobcats will have a chance to bounce back Thursday when they make up one their postponed New Years Day game at Aberdeen with a 7:15 PM start at Odde Ice Center against the Aberdeen Wings, followed by home games Friday and Saturday against the Owatonna Express and the Wings, respectively.
Thursday’s road contest will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at http://nahl.fasthockey.com/. As with all away games during the 2010-11 season, fans are encouraged to view the game at Reza’s Pitch—the official away game Home of the Bobcats—at the corner of Third and Front in Bismarck. Pre-game coverage will begin at 6:35 PM CT.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2010-11 season! Call the Bobcat Hockey office at (701) 222-3300 or email gobobcathockey@aol.com for more information on reserving your seats for the entire season as the Bobcats look to defend the Robertson Cup!
BOBCAT HOCKEY
2010 ROBERTSON CUP CHAMPIONS