Bismarck, ND
After a 5 goal Bobcat explosion in the 3rd period on Friday night, which led to 6-0 win, the Bismarck offense had an anemic showing on Saturday night. The Express were ready to play and they were helped out by the Wall of Owatonna, Matt Hemmingway. The Bobcats apparently did not set their alarm clocks and were interested in playing goon hockey. Which is something they need to improve if they hope to bring home any type of hardware in the playoffs. Here is your scoring recap. It would be Owatonna’s Cory Thorson lighting the lamp first, making the score: Owatonna 1 Bismarck 0. Then the Express offense would continue to roll down the tracks making the score 2-0. Bismarck would finally wake-up and show signs of life when Roseau’s Jason Fabian put a crack in the Wall of Hemmingway. Then there would be more Owatonna offense following a Bobcats’ penalty, which would be a reoccurring theme on Saturday night. The next goal from Owatonna would close out the 2nd frame. The Bobcats would score their final goal early in the 3rd by Tim Serratore followed by an Owatonna dagger. It would be penalty after penalty that burned the Cats which led to Owatonna’s power plays and goals. There were several turning points in tonight’s debacle. One of them came early in the game when the Bobcats were given 3 straight power plays and could do NOTHING with them! Instead of playing hockey with passion, what I saw tonight was fifteen rounds of fisticuffs. The scoreboard really showed who was ready to play and who was disinterested. The Bobcats did not look like Central Division Champions tonight! Perhaps it had something to do with the Byron Pool? Only time will tell if this is team was made to win or if this team was made to go in a boxing ring. The final score was Owatonna 4 Bismarck 2. The Bobcats now go on the road to face the North Iowa Outlaws on Saturday, March 20 at 7:30 pm.
