Bobcats Sweep Norsemen on the Road in St. Cloud
The Bismarck Bobcats hit the road once again this past weekend for a two-game set against the St. Cloud Norsemen.
Friday night, the Norsemen would strike on the power play first. Heading into that contest the Norsemen power play was 2nd in the entire NAHL. A deflection out in front caused the puck to squeak past Bobcats goalie Tomas Anderson who was starting in his 8th straight contest. The Norsemen would take the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission, but it would be the Bobcats outshooting St. Cloud in the 1st, 7-5.
The Bobcats took control in the 2nd period and rallied off 4 goals, beginning on the man advantage. Alexandr Kim rifled one home on the one-timer, glove side on Beck Liden to tie the game up at 1. Louie Kamienski would give the Bobcats their 1st lead of the night as he found himself open in the slot and buried the puck into the back of the net to make it 2-1, just 3 minutes after Kim tied the game. The scoring would stagnate until the final 5 minutes of the period, where Calle Arvedson would wind up a slapshot and pick his spot from the right-wing circle to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead. That would be Arvedson’s 2nd goal in just as many games. Ollie Chessler wouldn’t be left out of the party as he was patient with the puck, toe-dragged the defender, and fired the puck home with 0.7 seconds remaining in the period. That put the dagger in St. Cloud.
The Bobcats did a nice job in the final frame of managing the game as St. Cloud wasn’t granted many opportunities. With just under 7 minutes remaining in the period, Gianni DiVita found himself in front of the net, the puck bounced on his stick and he fluttered one over the shoulder of Liden to make it a 5-1 game. St. Cloud would respond with a goal later in the game, but it would be the Bobcats skating away with the 5-2 victory.
Tomas Anderson stopped 16/18 to tally his 29th win of the season.
Moving ahead to Saturday’s game, the 1st period began eerily similar. St. Cloud would strike first on the power play, same player, same primary assist, and the same area from where the shot came from. However, it wouldn’t end the same as with just about a minute to go, Wyatt Sypniewski was cutting along the crease, one handed one to the front of the net, and DiVita popped home his 2nd of the weekend to tie the game at 1, which would be the score heading into the intermission. The Bobcats outshot the Norsemen 9-5 in the opening frame.
The 2nd period saw many chances for the Bobcats, but for both sides there weren’t any pucks finding the back of the net. The Bobcats had 3 power play opportunities in the period, but were just unable to convert. On the bright side, however, Bismarck killed off a penalty in that middle frame, but entered the 3rd period still down a man.
The Bobcats did a nice job of killing off the remainder of the penalty to start the 3rd, but late in the period, while the Bobcats were shorthanded, Chessler was able to draw a penalty and make it 4 on 4. 10 seconds after the Bobcats headed on the power play, Tommy Cronin fired it home glove side to give Bismarck a 2-1 lead with 4:14 to go in the game. While St. Cloud would continue to push and outshoot the Bobcats 13-7 in the final period, Matthew Rafalski flung the puck 150 feet down the length for an empty-netter. Bismarck skated away with a 3-1 victory and registered their first weekend sweep on the road since November 22nd and 23 @ North Iowa.
With the win, Tomas Anderson notched his 30th win of the season stopping 25/26 that he saw in Saturday night’s contest.
Next weekend the Bobcats are on home ice to take on the St. Cloud Norsemen, be sure to secure your tickets before their all gone by calling the Bobcat Hotline at 390-7422 or by logging onto BismarckBobcats.com. Don’t forget following the game next Saturday, the Bobcats will be holding their Away Jersey Auction at the top of sections 6 & 7.