The Bismarck Bobcats began the 2nd half of the regular season with a trio of games.
Tuesday night the Bobcats returned to home ice to take on the Minot Minotauros in what was the 1st Bobcats contest in 17 days. The 1st period Minot came out hungry, scoring in the first 5 minutes of the contest to make it a 1-0 contest. The Bobcats would get a power play shortly after, however, they were unable to get much to click resulting in an unsuccessful attempt on the man advantage. Towards the end of the 1st period, the Tauros would send one in from the point and the puck ping-ponged off of a few different bodies, beating Tomas Anderson to make it a 2-0 Minot lead. They would take that lead into the 1st intermission, while also leading shots on goal 12-9.
The 2nd period, the Bobcats needed to come out with a response, however, the Minotauros picked up right where they left off as Adam Mahler, one of the alternate captains for Minot, made it 3-0, just over a minute into the middle frame. The Bobcats wouldn’t go quietly into the night, Keanu Krenn found some open ice in the slot, and a tape-to-tape pass from Gabe Kenne saw Krenn go five-hole on Minot goaltender Lukas Swedin to cut the deficit to 3-1. The pressure in the offensive zone began to build for the Bobcats as they would get another crack at the man advantage just after scoring their 1st goal. While the power play generated a few good looks at Swedin, none found the back of the net. The 2nd half of the middle period was controlled by the Tauros and in the last minute, they would strike again to re-establish their 3 goal lead.
The 3rd period started off well for the Bobcats, getting quick shots and pressuring Swedin, nonetheless, the Tauros netminder held strong, keeping the puck out of the back of the net. Then at the 12:20 mark of the 3rd period, the Bobcats were assessed a major penalty and along with some extracurricular activities after the whistle, five 10 minute misconducts were given out. Two Minotauros were sent to the locker room and three Bobcats were sent to their locker room, ending their night early. The Tauros would tack on 2 power play goals and come out with the 6-1 victory.
This was the largest loss margin for the Bobcats this season as they fell to 24-4-1 on the year.
Taking a look at Friday’s contest in St. Cloud, Minnesota, this was the first meeting between the Bobcats and Norsemen of the season. It was all Bobcats the entire game as Bannister would strike early for Bismarck just a minute and a half into the contest with a burner along the ice that found its way off the post and in. Just a minute later, Doll received a drop pass and made no mistake going top-left corner to make it 2-0 Bobcats with 17:30 still left in the 1st period. Bismarck wasn’t done there as Kopecky would move into the left-wing circle and snipe the puck five-hole on Beck Liden, the goaltender for the Norsemen. Finally in the late stages of the period, Gaspar would exhibit great patience skating all the way from the right-wing faceoff circle, to the slot, then to the left-wing circle where he found a lane and fired a hard wrister into the back of the net giving the Bobcats the 4-0 lead. While the Cats outshot the Norsemen by a slim margin of 10-9 in the 1st period, they would take the 4-0 advantage into the intermission.
The 2nd period saw more dominance from Bismarck as they would begin their scoring in the 2nd half of the middle frame. With 8:30 remaining in the period, a beautiful neutral zone passing play saw Beaumont streak forward on a breakaway. While his initial shot was stopped, he got his own rebound and pounded it home into the back of the net. 12 Seconds later, Kenne sent a harmless wrister on net and Liden didn’t even react as the puck beat him glove side to make it 6-0 Bobcats. Liden’s night would be done following that goal. Bismarck however, would continue their offensive efforts. Wyatt Sypniewski would cleanly beat a defender along the left wing and pick the top corner on a sharp angle making it a 7-0 contest. One last goal in the period would come in the dying seconds on a 2 on 1 for the Cats, Beaumont found Cronin on a saucer pass and Cronin made no mistake firing it home to make it an 8-0 contest going into the 2nd intermission.
The 3rd period was much calmer as neither team would find the back of the net, but the 1st and only penalty of the game would be called on St. Cloud. The Bobcats were unsuccessful on the man advantage, but would take home the 8-0 victory. Tomas Anderson notched his league-leading 6th shutout of the season, making 23 saves.
Saturday’s contest was a much tighter contest. It would be the Bobcats in the 1st period striking on a beautiful goal. Beaumont dipped the shoulder down to the corner, cut back around a defender, dodged the goalie’s stick and tucked it home around the pad, giving Bismarck a 1-0 lead. They would take that lead into the 1st intermission, while outshooting the Norsemen 13-5.
The 2nd period saw the Bobcats get into penalty trouble. While the Bobcats were short handed already, 2 additional penalties were called against Bismarck. St. Cloud’s dangerous power play would strike to tie the game at 1. Both teams would get more opportunities on the power play in the period, but both were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net and the game would head into the 3rd period tied at 1.
Both teams were much more disciplined in the 3rd period, but in the middle stages the Bobcats were called for an interference penalty. With St. Cloud already having a goal on the man advantage in the contest, they were confident in their ability and found the back of the net once again taking a 2-1 lead midway through the period. This was the 1st lead of the weekend for the Norsemen. The Bobcats wouldn’t go away quietly, however, as a hard shot from Calle Arvedson was deflected in front by Kopecky, tying the game and eventually forcing overtime.
In the overtime period, both teams generated chances, but Kyle Miller for St. Cloud cut back along the goal line and made a seam pass across to captain Hudson Blue for the backdoor tap-in to give the Norsemen the overtime victory.
The Bobcats after this past week are now 25-4-2 on the season. You can catch the Bobcats back in action this Friday and Saturday at home against the Aberdeen Wings. Puck drop is set for 7:15 P.M. be sure to get your tickets by logging onto BismarckBobcats.com or by calling the Bobcat hotline at 390-7422.