Bulls Sweep Weekend Series in Minnesota, Two Back of First
February 17, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Billings Bulls News Release
The Bulls went into the Runestone Community Center in Alexandria, Minnesota this past weekend with one thing on their minds: getting 4 points out of the Minnesota Blizzard. And while it may have taken a little longer than they might have liked, that's exactly what the Bulls got.
The Bulls took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period Friday night against the Blizzard thanks to powerplay goals from Brian Kaufman and Brett Gorman but Minnesota was able to put a pair of goals on the board in the third including one with just :11 left in regulation to send the game into overtime. You'd think with the Blizzard having scored such a demoralizing goal late in regulation that they would have the energy and jump heading into the overtime but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The Bulls dominated the overtime session outshooting the Blizzard 7-1 but still weren't able to seal the deal just yet. So...after 5 minutes of 4-on-4 it was headed to a shootout. Two of the 5 meetings between these 2 clubs had gone into shootouts with Minnesota taking both those contests. But Friday night the Bulls made sure they ended that skid. Brett Gorman, Sean Bertsch and Anthony Cosmano all scored for the Bulls as they took the shootout 3-2 and the game by the final of 3-2 as well. So...one game down and 2 points garnered, so far so good.
Enter Saturday night. The Bulls knew they had completed half of their goal in the weekend series in Minnesota and early Saturday night they were doing everything to make sure they completed the entire goal of 4 points. The Bulls scored 3 times in the first period (Gorman, Kaufman, Anders Olson) to take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room after the opening 20 minutes. The 2nd and 3rd periods were controlled territorially by the Blizzard who outshoot Billings 35 to 26 in the final 2 frames, but the Bulls had an answer to the barrage of Minnesota rubber thrown their way and it came between the pipes in the form of Jon Anderson. "Ando" was absolutely sensational all night long, stopping all 35 shots in the 2nd and 3rd and making 45 saves on 46 shots overall on the night. Jeff Stone then added an empty net goal as time was expiring in regulation to the seal the Bull's 4-1 victory.
With the 2 wins this past weekend, the Bulls improved to 27-13-5 and now have 59 points in the NAHL's Western Division standings. They still sit 2 points back of the first-place Fargo-Moorhead Jets who won both their games this weekend and lead the division with 61 points.
The Bulls are back in action this Saturday when they travel to Bozeman to take on their arch rivals, the Bozeman Icedogs. It will be the Bull's only game this week which will just magnify even more the importance of the 2 points up for grabs in Bozeman on Saturday. It will be lucky meeting number 13 between these two clubs with the Bulls controlling the season series 10-2. Be sure to catch all the action with Dan Fremuth, the Voice of the Bulls, as he brings you all the action live from Bozeman starting with your Billings Bulls pregame show at 6:50 and then the dropping of the puck at 7:05.
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North American Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2005
- Bulls Sweep Weekend Series in Minnesota, Two Back of First - Billings Bulls
- U.S. National Team weekly report - U.S. National Team
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