NAHL Bismarck Bobcats

Bobcats Hold Off Blizzard 4-3

Published on December 31, 2009 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release


BISMARCK, ND - The Bismarck Bobcats closed out 2009 withtheir 19th victory of the season, holding off the red-hot AlexandriaBlizzard for a 4-3 triumph in front of a sellout crowd at the VFW Sports Centeron New Years Eve.

It was a three-goal second period that propelled thefirst-place 'Cats to their fourth straight victory.

Tied at one after the first 20 minutes, Trent Johnson gavethe home team a lead they would not relinquish five minutes into the secondperiod, rifling a Sam Rendle transition feed past Alexandria netminder ChrisKamal for a 2-1 edge.

"I thought it was a 2-on-2 all the way, but I heard thebench yelling 'Three! Three!' for a 3-on-2," recalled Rendle, "so I knewsomeone would be trailing and there Trent was."

Just 29 seconds Johnson's fifth of the year, Bobcat forwardRyan Jacobson netted his second of the night, beaming a transition wrister pastKamal's glove, pushing the lead to 3-1 Bobcats, bringing the crowd of 1,548 atthe VFW to its feet.

The Blizzard answered five minutes later, though, when GrantDye caught a favorable bounce off Bobcat goalie Ryan Faragher, rolling a puckoff the reigning NAHL Goalie of the Month and inside the short post to pull thevisitors within 3-2.

With 4:02 left in the second, the Bobcats answered back whenRendle lined a low power play shot off an Alexandria defender and in to extendthe Bismarck lead back to two goals at 4-2.

Penalties were a big story on Thursday, particularly late inthe second when the Bobcats took a double-minor with 53 seconds left in theperiod and then a bench minor with 39 ticks remaining for a full two minutes of5-on-3 hockey, which the Bobcats successfully killed, wrapping around into thethird period.

The Blizzard would eventually break through on the powerplay with 10:47 left in regulation, pulling to within one score on AlexAltenbernd's 7th goal of the year; Alexandria finished 1-for-8 onthe power play.

"Every time we killed off a penalty, you could feel themomentum build up on the bench," said Rendle, who finished with a goal and twoassists. "Sure, they got one in our their last [power play] but the way the'PK' was going in the second and early third period was a huge turning pointfor us."

The Bobcats took an early lead 9:46 into the game whenJacobson tallied his 17th goal of the season, wristing a transitionshot past a screened-out Kamal for the 1-0 lead.

"It was definitely nice to get out to a fast start tonight,"noted Jacobson, who is now tied for fourth league-wide in goals with 18, "therewas some worry that we'd be a little flat after nine days off, but we hitChristmas break hot [with three straight wins] and we got another two pointsfrom a very good team here [Thursday]."

Alexandria answered with a goal in traffic of their own with18.5 seconds left in the opening frame off the stick of Chris Franks to tie thegame at one heading into the first intermission before the Bobcat offense tookflight in the middle frame.

Faragher picked up his 13th win of theseason- tying him for fourth in that category among NAHL goalies- on 19 saves.

Kamal dropped to 8-7-2 on the year after making 21 saves;five of his seven losses have come at the hands of the first-place Bobcats.

The Bobcats continue their three-game home weekend on Fridayas the North Iowa Outlaws come to town for the first of two 7:15 PM games atthe VFW Sports Center.

Friday's game will be broadcast locally on the radio home ofBobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide at BismarckBobcats.comvia B2 Networks. The pre-game show starts each night at 6:45 PM.

You won't wantto miss any of the games this season, so order your Season Tickets, FamilyPacks and Group Nights today by calling the Bobcat Hockey Office at701-222-3300 or by e-mailing the office for more information at gobobcathockey@aol.com.

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2009


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