Hazelberg Notches 1st Win as Bobcats Sweep Norsemen

The Bismarck Bobcats had back-to-back home weekends for the first time in what felt like forever as they took on the St. Cloud Norsemen. 

The opening 20 minutes wasn’t the prettiest for the Cats as the Norsemen would capitalize on a defensive zone turnover. Riley Fast with a burst of speed got past the Bobcat defenders and in on a breakaway as he got Marko Bilic to bite and proceeded to roof the puck under the bar to make it a 1-0 contest in favor of St. Cloud. The Bobcats would respond on the power play just minutes later as Nick Snyder one-timed the puck home past the Norsemen goaltender on a pass from Eddie Revenig. Late in the period, the Bobcats got behind the Norsemen defense as Ben Likness took a shot from the right-wing circle, the puck thudded off the pad of Wesley Jefferson-Swint and George Poirier was back-door to pound the rebound home and give the Cats the 2-1 lead. That was Poirier’s 3rd goal in as many games. Bismarck would take the 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.   

The 2nd period saw the Bobcats extend their lead midway through the contest as Teddy Richardson danced through the Norsemen defense, worked his way to the base of the right-wing circle and found Revenig in the slot and he made no mistake firing it home into the back of the net to make it a 3-1 contest. Just a minute and a half later, Charlie Kresl advanced forward on a breakaway and was able to open up the legs of Jefferson-Swint and deposit the puck five-hole to make it a 4-1 game. St. Cloud wouldn’t go away easily however. Dante Rodriguez slipped behind the Bobcat defense with under 2 minutes remaining and went high blocker on Bilic to make it a 4-2 hockey game. Luckily for Bismarck they would strike once again before the end of the frame, Mark Evans, after receiving a no-look pass from Richardson, tapped the puck home to restore the three-goal lead.        

Moving to the 3rd period, St. Cloud would strike midway through on the power play as the captain, Sam Crane deflected a shot from the point past Bilic. The Bobcats would be forced to kill off a 5-minute major penalty to conclude the contest, but they would be successful as the captain Gianni DiVita netted the short-handed empty net goal to give the Bobcats the 6-3 win.

Bilic was stellar in Friday night’s performance as he stopped 28/31 in his 8th victory of the season.  

Moving ahead to Saturday’s contest, it was a flurry of milestones as goaltender Evan Hazelberg started in his 1st career NAHL game, while forwards Ben Rakowski and Teddy Richardson both played in their 100th career NAHL contests. 

The 1st period wasn’t too eventful of a period as the Cats outshot the Norsemen 10-4. Neither team was able to find the back of the net as both goaltenders stood tall. 

Moving ahead to the 2nd period, it was all Bobcats. Shots in the middle frame read 21-5 in favor of Bismarck, however, it would still take the Bobcats until under 5 minutes remaining to solve St. Cloud goaltender, Beck Liden. Fanda Broz received a beautiful pass from Kresl in the slot as Broz tapped it upstairs to make it a 1-0 hockey game. Just over a minute later Poirier would extend his goal streak to 4 games as he wired the puck through Liden to make it 2-0. St. Cloud would have a near immediate response as they tallied near the end of the period on a net-front scramble, but Bismarck would hold a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd period. 

The Bobcats picked up right where they left off as Rakowski, who was playing in his 100th NAHL game scored on a rebound from the top of the circles to make it 3-1. The Bobcat defenders and goaltending was sharp from there as Richardson, who also played in his 100th NAHL game Saturday Night, would net the empty-net goal to secure the weekend sweep and the 4-1 victory. 

Hazelberg stopped 12/13 in his debut and secured his 1st career victory. 

The Cats are back on the road next weekend to take on the North Iowa Bulls in Mason City for a two-game series! Be sure to tune in on NATV & Super Talk 1270!