Bobcats Undone by Late Penalty Shot
FAIRBANKS, AK – A controversial late call cost the Bismarck Bobcats big time on the road, as Fairbanks Ice Dogs forward Yannick Vedel cashed in a penalty shot in the last half of the third period to lift the defending champs to a 3-1 win Friday at the Big Dipper.
As the Bobcat bench screamed in protest of the penalty shot call with 9:40 to go in regulation—a juncture at which the game had only seen a total of five penalties called, and only three power plays—Vedel outdueled Bobcat netminder Alex Bitsakis with a rising backhander inside the right post.
The Bobcats threw the kitchen sink at Ice Dog goalie Patrick Munson after the go-ahead strike, but could not solve the 6-foot-3 keeper in the late going.
Top-scoring Fairbanks forward Jacob Hetz put the finishing touches on the game with 46 seconds left, tapping the puck into the empty net when Bitsakis was pulled in favor of the extra attacker.
It was the homestanding Ice Dogs who got the scoring started Friday as Chandler Madry banged one in past Bitsakis off a net-front scramble with just 37 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
Second-year winger Alex Toscano drew the Cats even with 12:00 gone in the middle frame, crushing a one-timer from Alex Strand that beat Munson high glove for a 1-1 tie after two.
Bitsakis made a critical stop on Madry just 1:40 into the third after the Denver, Colo., native had a wide-open chance from six feet out, but the veteran goalie couldn’t get enough help from his offense to make the big save stand up.
In the end, Bitsakis turned aside 24 Fairbanks attempts but saw his record regress to 2-2-0. Munson needed 23 stops to secure his third win of the season.
The two sides will reconvene Saturday for a 10:30pm series finale at the Big Dipper as the Cats try to salvage a road split.
Live coverage of the rematch will begin at 10:30pm 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.
Though the 2014-15 season is now under way, there is still time to order season tickets for the year; fans who want to lock in their seats for the entire campaign should call the Bobcat office at 222-3300 today!
