BISMARCK, ND – Dilans Birkans and the penalty kill fought hard to keep Saturday night’s contest tight knit between the Austin Bruins (6-4-1-0, 13 pts) and the Bismarck Bobcats (9-2-0-0, 18 pts). The Bruins’ netminder stopped 28 of 32 shots while the team’s penalty kill kept the league’s top power play off the scorecard, but it was Bismarck who walked away victorious with a 2-1 overtime victory.
The Bruins entered the game with energy, with Kyle Sorensen swiping a puck away in neutral ice for a breakaway, but couldn’t beat the glove of Bobcats goalie Linus Viellard.
Neither team’s offense could get rolling, with Austin outshooting Bismarck seven to six with the team heading to the locker room scoreless after one.
Bismarck would strike first for the second straight night, as Will Leonard beat Birkans at 9:50 into the middle frame.
Sorensen wouldn’t miss a second time, breaking out of his own zone before handing the puck off to Casey Berninger as the two entered the zone. Sorensen bolted toward the net as Berninger passed to John Flood who snapped a wrist shot towards Viellard. Sorensen knocked the puck out of the air and it bounced into the net for the equalizer at 17:02, his fifth goal of the year.
Bismarck’s Brenden Espenell would head to the penalty box with just 1:06 remaining in regulation, giving Austin its fifth power play chance of the night. The Bruins couldn’t piece together anything before time ran out, but the power play would carry over to overtime.
The Black and Gold pieced together a couple of shots in OT without any of them beating Viellard. With 1:23 on the clock, Espenell worked his way towards the net before handing it off to Maddox Malmquist for a one-timer to seal the game and the sweep for Bismarck.
The Bruins head to Minot next week for a rematch with the Minotauros on the 23rd and 24th. Puck drop both nights is scheduled for 7:35pm with both games streamed live on NAHLTV.com.
