The streak is over and the series is still on.
Bismarck staved off elimination by snapping the 11-game winning streak of the Aberdeen Wings with a 3-1 NAHL playoff victory Friday night at the Odde Ice Center. The Wings still lead the best of five series 2-1 with game four this evening.
The Bobcats took advantage of a pair of Aberdeen turnovers and then added an empty net goal in the closing seconds.
“They had good speed tonight. They were good on the forecheck,” said Wings coach Scott Langer of the Bobcats. “We gave them a couple of goals there with turning the puck over, and at this time of the year you just can’t turn the puck over because it ends up in the back of the net.”
Bismarck struck first in the opening period, before Aberdeen tied the game on a goal by Bryce Johnson later in the period on an assist from Leonid Bulgakov and Gavin Reed.
“It was a good individual play by Leo,” Johnson said. “I just drove the net and I got rewarded.”
However, the visitors scored a crucial goal just 30 seconds into the second period, which turned out to be the game-winner. From there, both teams had numerous chances, but there was no scoring until the final empty-netter.
“We had our chances tonight, that’s for sure. … We had good chances there, especially in the second period,” Langer said. “He’s a good goalie. We’ve got a good goalie, they’ve got a good goalie. You take those turnovers back, this is a totally different hockey game.”
The outcome spoiled a major celebration that could have taken place in front of a huge partisan crowd. The Wings players definitely noticed their presence and impact.
“It was definitely something. I had chills going out there tonight,” Johnson said. “Try to rally the fans all week. Trying to sell tickets and stuff. It felt good that they showed out and I hope they show out (Saturday), because we really need them.”
Wings goalie Damon Cunningham, who had 26 saves in the contest, also noticed the Aberdeen faithful.
“As soon as I came out on the ice from the tunnel, big smile on my face,” Cunningham said. “It’s pretty cool to have the support that we have in town, and hopefully we can get this done on home ice (Saturday) and win it in front of them. That would be pretty awesome.”
Despite the setback, the Wings still control their own destiny and are just one win away from advancing to the Central Division finals.
“We can’t let up those early goals, but we can only have our heads up,” Johnson said. “It’s a long series. We’re still up 2-1 and we’ve got two more chances to do it.”
Aberdeen has one more chance at home to close out the series. If needed, game five would take place Monday in Bismarck.
“We just have to take advantage of being at home. You look at the size of the crowd tonight. What a great job, those guys coming out. We’ve just got to feed off it,” Langer said. “We didn’t play our best hockey game. We all know it, but we have 18 hours to fix it. So we’ll go back to work and come back and we’ll go after them (Saturday).”
The series has featured three tight games so far, and things likely won’t change the rest of the way.
“It’s been a battle every night. And it’s not going to get easier,” Cunningham said. “They’re playing for their lives and so are we. Every game is do or die. We’ve got to come (Saturday) with our best 60 minutes of the entire season.”
To see a complete box score, click on the following link:
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