Bobcats Split Weekend Series with Norsemen
The Bismarck Bobcats hosted the St. Cloud Norsemen this past Friday and Saturday at the VFW Sports Center..
Friday night the 1st period saw the Bobcats come out flying, registering 6 shots on goal in the opening 4 minutes of play. This momentum would carry throughout the period, as the Bobcats would go on the man advantage twice in the 1st, but were unsuccessful in striking on either. Bismarck would outshoot St. Cloud 13-6 in the first 20 minutes, but the game would remain scoreless heading into the 2nd period.
It would be St. Cloud getting the scoring started in the game, on a breakaway. Alex Sandhu went low on Tomas Anderson to make it a 1-0 game in favor of St. Cloud. While the game got away from the Bobcats in the 2nd, they dug deep. With just a couple of minutes remaining, following a few incredible saves from St. Cloud goaltender Conner Roff, Tommy Cronin was able to fire one into the back of the net to tie the game heading into the final frame.
The Bobcats would use that momentum and strike on the man advantage in the 3rd period. A great play on the power play as the faceoff was won back, the puck moved from low to high, and the shot from Cronin found the deflection off of the stick of Jakub Kopecky who angled his stick just right to put the puck into the back of the net, giving the Bobcats their first lead of the game. Just a few minutes later, Alexandr Kim would get on the board with his first goal since his return from World Juniors and give the Bobcats the 3-1 lead. St. Cloud kept pounding away, trying to get one back, but Anderson and the defense stood tall, as the Bobcats skated away with the 3-1 victory.
Anderson notched his 20th win of the season on Friday night stopping 32/33.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s game the Norsemen came out hungry. At the midway point of the 1st period as St. Cloud was executing a line change, the trailer, Mason LeBel, came gliding onto the ice, and as soon as he gained the zone the puck was set up on a tee for him and he released a howitzer past Anderson to make it a 1-0 St. Cloud lead. The Bobcats, despite outshooting the Norsemen in the 1st period, were unable to find a response and St. Cloud would take the 1-0 lead into the 2nd.
The 2nd period it was obvious that the Bobcats were a bit fatigued as due to injury and illness, they could only dress 10 forwards and 6 defenseman. Toward the end stages of the 2nd period St. Cloud doubled their lead and made it 2-0, as Sandhu notched his 2nd of the weekend. Bismarck outshot the Norsemen 9-3, but were once again, unable to find the back of the net.
In the final period, the Bobcats knew they needed a response quickly. They began the 3rd on the man advantage and Keanu Krenn found the puck at the doorstep and pounded home the rebound to give the Bobcats some life. Just seconds later, Bismarck would go back on the man advantage. It felt like the tides were turning in favor of the Bobcats. However, despite the efforts, Bismarck couldn’t convert on the man advantage. To add salt to the wound, as Martins Klaucans, exited the penalty box, St. Cloud moved forward on a 3 on 2 and would find the back of the net. It felt like that goal was the most deflating of all. Although, the Bobcats pressured in the 3rd, St. Cloud found an empty net goal and sealed a 4-1 victory over the Bobcats.
The Bobcats moved to 28-5-2 after the weekend series. The Bobcats are back next weekend on the road as they take on the Minnesota Mallards. Be sure to tune in to all the action on NATV, Super Talk 1270, or the free Super Talk 1270 mobile app