Richardson Caps off Weekend Sweep with Hat Trick
The Bismarck Bobcats returned to home ice to take on the Watertown Shamrocks as the Cats searched for a bounce back weekend.
The opening 20 minutes was a solid start for the Bobcats. Just in the first 7 minutes they were outshooting the Shamrocks 8-1. Neither team would find the back of the net in the opening period, as Bismarck would outshoot Watertown 10-7.
The 2nd period was much of the same between the two teams as the Bobcats continued to pour on the pressure and would finally break through in the dying minutes of the middle period. Teddy Richardson made an evasive move into the right-wing circle and made an amazing pass to Nick Snyder, who one-timed the puck bar-down to give the Cats the 1-0 lead. That was Snyder’s 1st goal at the VFW in his career. Bismarck wouldn’t be done just yet. 23 seconds later, Jimmy Dodig made a nice play holding the puck at the line, he wristed it toward the net as it was knocked down by Ben Likness who then found George Poirier back-door to make it 2-0. Bismarck outshot the Shamrocks 16-6 in the middle frame.
Moving to the 3rd period, it seemed as if the Bobcats had it in the bag as just 90 seconds in Snyder would lay the body in the corner, free the puck, and snipe the puck home glove-side to give Bismarck the 3-0 lead. Watertown would wake up just a couple minutes later as both teams were skating 4 a side, the Shamrocks would find the back of the net on a defensive breakdown. Then just 90 seconds later while on the man advantage Watertown would pull within one with a howitzer from Erick Comstock. Things would slow down from there as the Cats shut down the Shamrocks and gained the 3-2 victory!
Marko Bilic stopped 18/20 in his 6th win of the season.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, it ended up being a back-and-forth battle between these two teams.
The 1st period saw the Shamrocks get out to an early lead just 4 minutes in as a shot from the line changed direction multiple times before finding the back of the net. Midway through the period, the Bobcats responded as George Poirier tucked one home on the near side post on the power play to make it a 1-1 contest. The game remained tied for under a minute as Watertown would then take a shot from the point which found the back of the net through traffic to make it a 2-1 contest. It seemed as if Bismarck would be trailing heading into the 1st intermission, but cue Richardson once again. He found the back of the net for the Cats not once, but twice within 40 seconds to make it a 3-2 Bismarck lead.
Moving ahead to the 2nd period, it was a rough period for the Cats to say the least. Not only were the Bobcats outshot 10-3, but they would also concede 2 goals in the period and trail 4-3 heading into the 3rd.
Bismarck was in need of a massive regroup in the intermission and they did just that as they came out of the gates swinging. Just 3 minutes into the 3rd period Hugo Kruse would tie the game on a ripper from the point for his 1st career NAHL goal to make it 4-4. Shots ended 5-4 in the 3rd period favoring the home side, but we would require overtime to decide this contest.
In true memorable and dramatic fashion, Charlie Kresl skated ahead on a 2 on 1 in overtime with Richardson, fed the pass to him, and Richardson made no mistake, finding the back of the net and getting the hat trick.
The Bobcats completed the weekend sweep and remain in 2nd place in the Central Division.
The Cats will be back on home ice next weekend to take on the St. Cloud Norsemen! Tickets are available at tickets.bismarckbobcats.com