Nies, Bobcats Smother Monsters for Sweep
September 22, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release
BISMARCK, ND - The Bismarck Bobcats' defense clamped down and goalie Bryan Nies made 35 saves as the Cats swept the Fresno Monsters out of the VFW Sports Center with a 2-1 victory Saturday night.
Just like in Friday night's 2-1 victory, a rookie got the Bobcat offense started in the first period as second-round draft pick Joe Kaszupski took a centering feed from Cory Chapman and ripped a point-blank shot over Monster goalie Macauley Haight's glove to post the home side to a 1-0 lead with 5:11 to go in the opening frame.
In the second period, Nies and Haight were again at center stage, combining for 15 saves to keep the score 1-0 through 40 periods.
The Cats caught a break 6:24 into the third on the power play when a sky-high shot by blueliner Rory Vesel deflected off the stick of Fresno defender Drew Aspinwall and in, boosting the Cats to a 2-0 advantage.
Vesel's tally snapped a streak of 19 straight power plays without a goal, dating back to September 12.
"The funny thing is that our power play created some great scoring chances all night, but the one that goes in was a dump-in going about 30 miles per hour," pointed out Bobcats head coach and general manager Layne Sedevie. "But the puck movement is really good on the "ËPP' and when we can start turning these grade-A chances into goals, we'll be in good shape."
Fresno injected some drama into the late stages of the game, netting a power play strike of their own as Mitchell Snyder was able to grab the puck on a broken play in the middle of the zone and rip home a low liner, cutting the lead to 2-1 and spoiling Nies' shutout bid with 4:26 left in the contest.
Following Snyder's third of the year, the Bobcat defense and forecheck solidified, not allowing the Monsters' offense to set up over the final four-plus minutes to help Nies secure his second straight win.
The former Red River High School Roughrider made 35 stops and dropped his GAA to 1.75 with the victory.
Nies was quick to pass the credit around.
"The defense cleared a lot of traffic in front and everybody was blocking shots out there," remarked Nies, who is now 3-1-0 on the young season, "and when I had a rebound, guys were working hard to clear them out."
Haight turned in another impressive performance in net for the Monsters with 31 saves, but couldn't avoid another hard-luck loss to slip to 3-2-0.
With the win, the Bobcats find themselves back at .500 with a record of 3-3-0 and in a tie with the upstart Brookings Blizzard atop the Central Division.
A challenging September schedule gets even tougher Friday at 7:15 pm when the Bobcats host the red-hot Wenatchee Wild, who boast a league-best record of 6-0-0 and stand as one of two undefeated teams left in the league, along with the defending Robertson Cup champion Texas Tornado.
It will be the first regular season meeting between the two sides and the first time they've crossed paths since a 2-1 win by the Wild at the 2010 Robertson Cup Tournament ended up clinching the Cats' berth in the National Finals.
Friday's showdown will be broadcast locally on the radio home of Bobcat Hockey, Super Talk 1270, KLXX-AM, and worldwide on the official internet television partner of the NAHL, FASTHockey, at http://nahl.fasthockey.com. Pregame coverage gets under way at 6:45.
Season tickets for the 2012-13 season are now on sale-and going fast! Call the Bobcat Hockey office today at (701) 222-3300 to reserve your seats for another great season of Championship Entertainment.
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North American Hockey League Stories from September 22, 2012
- Wild Sweep Minotauros - Wenatchee Wild
- Nies, Bobcats Smother Monsters for Sweep - Bismarck Bobcats
- Wildcats Edge IceRays in Shootout 3-2 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Forward Boby Scores Three Times In Victory - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
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