Bobcats Swept by Wings to Close Out Homestand

The Bismarck Bobcats hosted the Aberdeen Wings this past weekend to close out the six-game homestand. 

It was a very competitive opening 20 minutes of play with the Bobcats having a slight edge and moving their feet well. They would be rewarded as the time expired in the 1st period on the power play as Nick Snyder one-timed the puck short-side on Adam Dybal to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.  

Both teams would strike in the middle frame, beginning with Bismarck. It was a well-executed 3 on 2 by the Cats as Oscar Jonsson fed a seam pass across to Camden Alemond and at the last second, cutting toward the crease was Gianni DiVita who tapped it home to extend the lead to 2-0 in favor of Bismarck. The Wings would respond just minutes later on a D-zone turnover as Jonathan Doucette fired the puck home past Bryce Francisco to cut the deficit in half. Bismarck would lead 2-1 heading into the 3rd period of action.        

The Cats were dominating shots in the 3rd period until the midway point as Aberdeen advanced on a 2 on 1, David Hruby was able to tap it home to tie the game at 2. Neither team would find the back of the net after that and the game would require an additional period.

Both teams had chances in overtime but they wouldn’t fire home the game-winner and the game would head into a shootout.

Owen Pitters would be the only one to score in the shootout as he deked past Francisco and the Wings would gain the extra point in the shootout. 

Francisco suffered the shootout loss as he stopped 29/31.   

Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, once again it would be the Bobcats scoring first in the opening period. Charlie Kresl capitalized on a puck that bounced over an Aberdeen twig and moved in on the breakaway where he found the back of the net to make it 1-0. The Cats would take the slim advantage into the middle frame.  

The 2nd period once again saw a collapse from the Cats. Just over 6 minutes in on a 2 on 2 rush, Caden Lee would rip one from the left-wing circle beating Francisco to tie the game up at 1. Aberdeen would then tally a pair of power play goals later in the period, one on the breakaway from Brody Dustin, the other on a net-front scramble by Easton Edwards. The 2nd period would end with a 3-1 Aberdeen lead.   

Moving to the 3rd period, the Bobcats did create some offense, but Dybal was spectacular as he robbed the Cats of getting back into the contest. The Wings would tally on an empty-net goal late in the game and sweep the Bobcats at the VFW by a final score of 4-1. 

Francisco stopped 21/24 in the loss.  

The Cats are back on the road this weekend to take on the North Iowa Bulls for the final two times of the regular season. Puck drops are set for 7:10 P.M. on Friday night and 6:30 P.M. on Saturday Night.