Bobcats Rebound with Rout of Bruins
AUSTIN, MN – One night after their most lopsided loss of the season, the Bismarck Bobcats responded with their most dominant win: a convincing 8-1 victory over the Austin Bruins Saturday at Riverside Arena.
As they did the night before, the Bobcats struck first when Oskars Batna fired in his own rebound while falling down just 2:55 into the game to silence the boisterous Austin crowd and put the visitors in front.
When Bruins veteran Derek Olmschenk picked up a high sticking penalty with 3:45 left in the first, the Cats capitalized a mere 13 seconds into the ensuing power play as a Willie Brown centering pass deflected straight to Kyle Sylvester, who quickly ripped the puck inside the right post to extend the lead to 2-0.
Just 49 seconds into the second, Bobcat winger Travis Wood pushed the score to 3-0, taking a pass in the slot from Jared Resseguie and firing a wrister that hit Austin goalie Kristofer Carlson in the glove, popped into the air and bounced into the net.
Tobias Fladeby kept the offense coming for the Cats with 6:28 left in the middle frame, misfiring a one-timer from Patrik Demel but kicking the miss back onto his stick and stuffing it inside the right post for a 4-0 cushion and ending Carlson’s night, as he was pulled in favor of backup Austin Smith.
In the third, first-year forward Solag Bakich put an emphatic cap on the run of five straight Bobcat goals, darting through the Bruin defense to claim a loose puck and rip a rising shot over Smith’s glove at the 16:40 mark of the stanza for his first junior tally and a 5-0 Bobcat advantage.
Austin spoiled the shutout bid of Bobcat goalie Hunter Shepard with 15:11 on the power play, when a broken play led to a wide-open sharp-angle shot from Jacob Paganelli, to which Shepard could not recover quickly enough—getting the Bruins on the board at 5-1.
That, however, would be as close as Austin would get: the Bobcats got three goals in the final six and a half minutes of regulation on a power play strike from Harrison Aide, a second-chance marker by Jared Pike and Bakich’s second of the night in the dying seconds of a power play to seal an 8-1 victory and earn the weekend split at Riverside.
Shepard turned in a strong night, turning away 27 of 28 Bruin shots for his ninth win of the year. Carlson was saddled with the loss despite 28 stops in a little less than two periods of work; Smith finished with nine saves but did not factor into the decision.
The Bobcats are back in action Wednesday evening as they return to the VFW Sports Center to host the Brookings Blizzard for a pre-Thanksgiving divisional matchup at 7:15pm.
Tickets are now on sale for Wednesday night’s clash: fans can buy and print tickets 24 hours a day at BismarckBobcats.com or charge by phone Monday through Friday, 9am until 5pm, at 222-3300.
Wednesday’s tilt 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 6:35pm.
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.
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