Brown Helps Cats Pull Away to 4-1 Win
ABERDEEN, SD – Mired in a 1-1 tie on the road late in the second period, winger Willie Brown tallied consecutive goals to power the Bismarck Bobcats to a 4-1 victory over the Aberdeen Wings Saturday at the Odde Ice Center.
For the fourth straight game, the Bobcats scored first to nab a 1-0 lead with 9:17 to go in the opening frame when Tobias Fladeby waited out Wings netminder Gavin Paczosa and deposited a short wrister inside the left post for his third goal in as many games.
Aberdeen drew even on the power play with 11:14 left in the second, catching a big bounce when a Ryan Cook shot deflected off a Bobcat defender, off the left post and in past Bobcat goalie Hunter Shepard.
Brown dialed up a much-needed response with 3:49 remaining in the same frame, collecting a pass in the high slot from Harrison Aide and blazing a low shot through traffic that beat Paczosa stick side to put the Cats ahead for good at 2-1.
Amid a line change early in the third, Brown tacked on some major insurance, rushing in off the bench to collect a Gianni Brandi rebound and slip a backhander inside the right post to make it 3-1 Bobcats with 15:50 on the clock in the final stanza.
“After Willie came to us at the trade deadline last year, he was nearly a point-per-game guy for us, so that’s been our expectation for him this year,” noted Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie on Brown, who had five goals and eight assists in 14 appearances in black and gold in 2014-15. “He struggled for a little while there about a month ago, but over the past couple weeks his production has gotten back to where we want him to be.”
The South St. Paul, Minn., native has four goals and two assists in his last six games to go with a plus-5 rating.
Second-year winger Kyle Sylvester topped off the Cats’ offensive surge with 12:10 to go in the game on a 2-on-1 rush with Brown, rocketing a slap shot over Paczosa’s glove and in for his second goal in three contests.
Shepard bounced back from a rocky no-decision Wednesday with a steady 22 stops for his 10th win of 2015-16. Paczosa allowed four goals on 31 shots to suffer just his second regulation loss this season.
The Bobcats now turn their attention to a two-game, home-and-home series with the Minot Minotauros to open December, starting Friday at the VFW Sports Center for a 7:15pm row with their archrivals.
Tickets are now on sale for Friday’s contest: fans can buy and print 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com, by clicking “Shop Now” on the team’s Facebook page or by calling the Bobcat office Monday through Friday between 9:00am and 5:00pm at 222-3300.
Friday’s installment of the Battle of Highway 83 will be broadcast live locally on SuperTalk 1270, KLXX-AM, the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, and worldwide online at NAHL.FASTHockey.com—the official web television partner of the North American Hockey League—with pregame coverage starting at 6:45pm.
Season tickets are still on sale for the 2015-16 season at a pro-rated price; if you want to beat the rush of over 40,000 fans for this year, now is the time! Call 222-3300 to reserve your seats today.