Wild Rally Deals Bobcats Home Sweep
Published on September 30, 2012 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release
BISMARCK, ND - For the second straight night, the Bismarck Bobcats saw a first period lead vanish as the Wenatchee Wild rallied for three straight goals, dropping the Bobcats 3-2 Saturday at the VFW Sports Center.
The loss handed the Cats their first home sweep since Coulee Region took a pair of games in Bismarck in February of 2011.
Just as they did Friday, the Bobcats got on the board first as blueliner Dan Kovar struck for his first goal of the year and a 1-0 lead, beating Wild netminder Jordyn Kaufer with a 60-foot shot off a Matt Anders faceoff win just 2:31 into the game.
A mere 43 seconds later Shane Omdahl doubled the lead to 2-0 on the Cats' second shot of the night, finishing a strong forecheck by Bob Kinne and Patrick Moore by swatting a centering feed for more past a turned-around Kaufer.
Kaufer would not get a chance to register a save, getting the hook from Wild bench boss Bliss Littler in favor of Friday's winning goalie Robert Nichols.
Chris Kerr halved the Bobcats' advantage with 8:54 left in the first, finding shooting room on the rush and beating Bobcat goalie Bryan Nies blocker side for a 2-1 score after the first.
The Bobcats' momentum stalled in the second period when they for four penalties in a five minute span. Though they were able to kill off the three Wild power plays that ensued-including a 5-on-3 kill-Evan Schmidbauer eventually evened the score at 2-2 one second after a delay of game minor on Jeremy O'Keefe expired.
Wenatchee took the lead for good just over five minutes later as the league's top scorer, Jono Davis, registered his second goal of the weekend when he lifted a backhander that deflected off of Nies' shoulder and into the net to make it 3-2 Wenatchee with 3:50 to go in the second.
In the final frame, defense and forechecking were the story as the two sides combined for just 10 shots. The Bobcats created a handful of scoring chances in the last few minutes of the game, but Nichols made multiple saves at point-blank range to deny the home side's comeback bid.
With the win, Wenatchee stays unbeaten on the year at 8-0-0 while the Bobcats fall four points behind Central-leading Brookings, who wrapped up a home-and-home sweep of Aberdeen on Saturday.
With their September slate wrapped up, the Bobcats will now get 13 days off-their longest break of the 2012-13 campaign-before opening Central Division play in Wisconsin as they take on the Coulee Region Chill on Friday, October 12, at 7:00 PM at the Omni Center.
The Cats' division opener 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 6:30.
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.
North American Hockey League Stories from September 30, 2012
- Kalamazoo loses second straight to Port Huron - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Bulls Win Home Opener Beat Jackalopes 5-1 - Amarillo Bulls
- Bulls Win Home Opener Beat Jackalopes 5-1 - Amarillo Bulls
- Wild Rally Deals Bobcats Home Sweep - Bismarck Bobcats
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