Bobcats Gutted by Last-Second Aberdeen Winner
BISMARCK, ND – Less than a week removed from two stirring come-from-behind wins, the Bismarck Bobcats had the tables turned on them Wednesday as the Aberdeen Wings scored twice in the third period—including once with two seconds left in regulation—to shock the Cats 3-2 at the VFW Sports Center.
Following a scoreless first period, the Bobcats snagged a 1-0 lead with 8:36 left in the second when Jared Resseguie blasted home a back-door feed from Jordan Fralich for his first goal since October 1.
Aberdeen drew even at one before the period could end when blueliner Andy Carroll capitalized on a miscue in transition by the Bobcat defense, snapping a low shot past the blocker of goalie Will Ulrich with 1:24 to go in the frame.
Forward Joey Sardina got the Cats right back in front with 33 seconds left in the middle stanza, cashing in a 2-on-1 with Ashton Altmann to extend his personal point streak to three games.
A fluky goal got the Wings back to level with 12:34 to go in the third when Shawn Knowlton banked one in off the Bobcat defense from the left wing corner for his third goal against the Cats in 2016-17.
Disaster struck the home side in the final minute when the Wings won an offensive zone faceoff that saw Fargo product Tyler Bossert follow up his own rebound and chip the puck past Ulrich with just 2.1 seconds left to push Aberdeen ahead 3-2.
With no time to come back, the clock ran out on the Bobcats, dealing them just their second home defeat of 2016-17.
Ulrich made 27 stops but slipped to 9-8-1 on the year. Aberdeen newcomer Forbes Ploszaj dazzled with 34 stops for the victory.
Now the Bobcats turn their attention to a two-game road weekend at Northwoods Credit Union Arena against the second-place Minnesota Wilderness on Friday and Saturday.
Friday’s series opener will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270 AM, and worldwide on HockeyTV.com–the web television partner of the North American Hockey League–with pregame coverage starting at 6:35pm.
Pro-rated season tickets are now on sale for the Bobcats’ landmark platinum anniversary campaign fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of Season Twenty now by calling 222-3300.