Bobcats Regain 1st Place with Mauling of Tauros
The Bismarck Bobcats were back on home ice for the annual Thanksgiving Eve game against the Tauros. This was the 1st meeting of the season between the two teams.
Minot got the party started on an early power play as defenseman Ty James beat Dane Callaway through a screen with a shot from the point to make it 1-0 Minot. The Cats would respond and send the home crowd into a frenzy just 90 seconds later as Ben Rakowski toe-dragged into the middle and wristed a hard shot into the back of the net for his 4th of the season. The scoring slowed down until the midway point of the period, where Minot once again regained the lead with a tally from Mackley Morelli. The Bobcats didn’t let that affect them, as they received a power play just a minute later and converted courtesy of Mark Evans from the top of the right-wing circle. The momentum certainly swung in the Bobcats favor as in the late stages of the period, Veszi Lippai sauced a pass into the middle and Trey Fredenberg had his stick in perfect position as he tipped it just under the bar to make it a 3-2 lead, which the Cats would take into the 1st intermission. Shots read 9-8 in favor of the Tauros after 20 minutes.
Just a minute and a half into the period, Ben Osiashvili joined the scoring party as he pulled the puck into the slot and cranked home his 4th goal of the campaign to make it 4-2 Cats. Minot wouldn’t go away, as just a minute later, Ivan Sidorov brought them back within one. Moving to the late stages of the frame, the Tauros once again would strike on a D-Zone turnover from the Bobcats to equalize the game at 4. Bismarck tried to generate some chances in the last minute and a half of the period as they sustained some O-Zone pressure. Jimmy Dodig was able to fire a hard wrist shot, beating Minot goaltender Brian Cooke to give the Cats the 5-4 lead heading into the 2nd intermission.
The 3rd period was all Bobcats. Camden Alemond tucked the puck around the pad of Cooke on the power play to make it a 6-4 contest with 15:28 to go in the period. Mere minutes later George Poirier fired home his 7th of the season to make it 7-4 Cats. The Bobcats would tack two more goals on, a power play goal from Cooper Williams that snuck under the bar and a backdoor reception from Lippai for his 3rd of the year. On Lippai’s goal, Bismarck native, Haydon Eckart notched his 1st career NAHL point on the secondary assist. The final buzzer would sound as the Bobcats notched a resounding 9-4 win against Minot
Dane Callaway notched another victory in net stopping 24/28 that came his way. Last night’s 9 goals is the most goals scored by the Cats against Minot in the 14 year span that these two teams have been playing each other. Thanks to an Aberdeen loss to Watertown, the Cats retake possession of 1st place in the Central Division Standings.