Close Calls Cost Bobcats in 3-1 Defeat
January 14, 2017 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release
BISMARCK, ND - The Bismarck Bobcats had to settle for a split on the home legs of their three-in-three series with the Minot Minotauros, dropping a 3-1 decision to their archrivals Friday at the VFW Sports Center in the ninth game of the Subway ND Cup.
It was Minot who drew first blood Friday, striking on the power play 7:53 into the game when Nate Pionk made a point-blank redirect of a Nolan Sawchuk point shot to give the visitors 1-0 lead that would last through the first intermission.
With 11:42 to go in the second, first-year winger Tristan Ashbrook scored for the second time in his last three appearances, deflecting a Tanner Breidenbach lob to tie the game at one.
Minotauro center Tyler Jeanson capitalized on a miscommunication at the end of a Bobcat power play to push Minot back ahead 2-1, grabbing a drop pass on the ensuing rush from Zack Bross and blasting a slap shot past the blocker of Bobcat goalie Severi Isokangas with 7:46 left in the middle stanza.
At the 0:58 mark of the same frame, it looked like the Cats had evened the score when Michael Mahan popped the puck into the empty net when a Minot defender wiped out netminder Austin Park but the goal was waved off for an announced interference infraction.
Early in the third, Minot had a goal wiped out, as well, when an inadvertent whistle caused a would-be 5-on-3 power play tally by Derek Frentz to go by the boards.
Frentz would wind up getting on the board with 2:00 left when the Bobcats pulled Isokangas for an extra attacker but could not control the puck in the offensive zone, freeing the second-year wing to score from center ice.
Yet another Bobcat goal was waved off in the 19th minute of the third when it appeared Matt Barry had made it a one-goal game but the net was adjudged to have been knocked off before the puck crossed the line-giving the contest its final margin of 3-1.
Isokangas made 15 saves but slipped to 1-1-0 in his first weekend with the Bobcats. Park improved to 2-0-0 against the Bobcats in 2016-17 on 21 stops.
The two sides will reconvene to close out the three-game weekend Saturday with a 5:00pm matinee at Maysa Arena-the Cats' final trip to the Magic City of the regular season.
Saturday's rubber match will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270 AM, and worldwide on HockeyTV.com-the web television partner of the North American Hockey League-with pregame coverage starting at 6:45pm.
Pro-rated season tickets are now on sale for the Bobcats' landmark platinum anniversary campaign fans can get more information or reserve their seats for all of Season Twenty now by calling 222-3300.
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North American Hockey League Stories from January 14, 2017
- Amarillo Bulls Beat Corpus Christi 3-0 - Amarillo Bulls
- Close Calls Cost Bobcats in 3-1 Defeat - Bismarck Bobcats
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