Wood Takes Charge as Bobcats Top Blizzard
Published on January 30, 2016 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Bismarck Bobcats News Release
BISMARCK, ND - Travis Wood provided the offense and the Bismarck Bobcat defense and goalie Hunter Shepard did the rest as the Cats cruised to a 2-1 win over the Brookings Blizzard at the VFW Sports Center Friday.
After the Bobcats had been rebuked repeatedly by Brookings netminder Josh Kuemichel in the opening frame, Wood cashed in a broken play with 1:11 to go in the period when center Aaron Herdt lost his balance and the puck rolled to the Hudson, Wisc., native- who proceeded to zip a backhander off the crossbar and in for a 1-0 lead for the home side.
In a special teams-laden second, the Bobcat penalty kill wiped out five Blizzard power plays, including a full two-minute 5-on-3 disadvantage early in the stanza.
Kuemichel continued his strong play in the second, turning away Wood on a 2-on-0 rush with Nick Wallace with 14:05 left in the period.
Wood earned a measure of vengeance with 2:45 remaining in the frame, looking off a centering pass to Herdt, curling to his right and lifting a backhander over Kuemichel's leg pad to push the score to 2-0 after two.
Still within striking distance late, the Blizzard pulled Kuemichel for the extra attacker and eventually broke Shepard's spell with 2.5 seconds left in the game when Nick Ford shook free beside Shepard and batted in a back door pass from Connor Spetz off a faceoff win.
Brookings could not control the ensuing faceoff and the Bobcats picked up the 2-1 victory, their first at home over the Blizzard this season.
Shepard turned away 22 of 23 shots in collecting his 22^nd win of the year, but fell two seconds shy of tying the Bobcat franchise record for single-season shutouts. Kuemichel dazzled with 34 saves but suffered his first loss at the VFW Sports Center.
With the win, the Cats (23-13-1, 47 pts) maintained a two-point lead for the Central Division's top spot over Minot (21-16-3, 45 pts), who rallied past Aberdeen 4-3 in overtime Friday to keep pace.
The two sides will reconvene to wrap up the two-game weekend series Saturday at 7:15pm at the 'the VFW.'
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