BISMARCK, ND – The Bruins never led until 17 seconds remaining in the third period, but thanks to Jaden Shields’ first two NAHL goals, that was all they needed to steal a 3-2 come-from-behind win at VFW Sports Center on Friday night.
Bismarck was the better team in the first period and scored late when defenseman Nick Woodward stepped into a slap shot and scored his first NAHL goal at 16:38 off assists from Joseph Mancuso and Grant Johnson. The Bobcats won the first period shot battle, 11-9.
At 4:41 of the second, the Bobcats doubled their lead when Adam Stacho got behind the Bruins defense after a bad line change and took a pass from Patrick O’Connor to break in alone on Bruins goaltender Alex Schilling and make it 2-0 with a glove-side wrist shot. Bismarck netminder John Roberts, who was coming off a shutout of Aberdeen, nearly got through 40 minutes with the 2-0 lead, but newcomer Dante Sheriff got into the slot and ripped home a power play goal with 12 seconds remaining in the period to slice the lead to 2-1. Travis Kothenbeutel and Andy Willis set it up, extending Kothenbeutel’s point streak to eight games.
After an even first half of the third period, the Bruins turned up the pressure and finally tied the game at 14:04 when Shields blasted a point shot in from the blue line, his first NAHL goal. On the play, Sheriff got his second point of the game, assisting along with Dante Zapata. The pressure continued into the final minute when Shields struck again with a hard wrist shot from the right faceoff circle with 17 seconds remaining. Willis picked up his second assist of the game along with Evan Cholak. Bismarck couldn’t gain the Bruins zone with the goaltender pulled, and 3-2 was the final. Schilling made 25 saves for his 6th win, and 5th in his last 6 appearances. Roberts stopped 30 of 33.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=x7Wdjyo7Dm
The Bruins have tied their longest winning streak in four seasons with their sixth in a row, two shy of a franchise record. Their point streak is nine, three shy of tying that team mark. They’ve won five straight games in Bismarck and go for their second road sweep of the Bobcats on Saturday night at 7:15. The game will broadcast on HockeyTV (AWAY AUDIO) as well as AM 1480 KAUS, myaustinminnesota.com, and the iHeart Radio App.
