BISMARCK, ND–Joonas Huovinen is enjoying his time in Bismarck, and the Bobcats enjoy it as well.
Huovinen (Oulu, Finland) scored his second goal in his second game as a Bobcat in the sixth round of shootout hockey, and goalie Aaron Nelson (Bismarck, ND) sticked aside an attempt to even the duel by Aberdeen’s Jonathan Grebosky (Oakdale, PA), lifting the Bobcats to a 2-1 win over the Wings at the VFW Sports Center in Bismarck Saturday night.
Huovinen scored in his Bobcat debut Friday night in a 4-3 Bismarck win over the Wings in Aberdeen, and the skill he demonstrated during his debut weekend led his team to give him the shot in sudden death.
"I let our captain make the call on that one," Bobcat head coach Layne Sevedie remarked with a grin. "He has great skills, he made a great fake, and buried it."
Stanislav Dzakhov (Moscow, Russia) delivered a goal as the first Bobcat skater on the ice in the shootout, producing Bismarck’s first lead of the night. Filip Starzynski (Warsaw, Poland) beat Wings’ goalie Chad Catt on a 5-3 power play in the second period, tying the game at 1-1.
The power play produced the lone Aberdeen goal, as Jordan Heller (Bemidji, MN) slapped a rebound past Nelson at 15:23 of the first, edging the Wings to a 1-0 lead they would enjoy till Starzynski’s tally.
"Minus the first 20 (minutes), I thought we battled uphill and played well. We weren’t that good in the first period, but the last 40, I thought we dominated, and we earned the two points tonight," said Sevedie.
The Bobcats improve to 6-2 overall, and move to 12 points in the NAHL Central Division standings, two behind first-place Austin, who blasted Brookings Saturday night. Aberdeen falls to 5-2-1, earning their 11th point in the Central race.
Bismarck travels to Brookings for a one-game weekend Friday, October 11th, starting three straight against the Blizzard. They return to the VFW Sports Center Saturday, October 19th to play the third game of that series. For tickets, call the Bismarck Bobcat ticket office at 222-3300.