Bismark Bobcats three first-period goals enough to edge Austin 3-2 Saturday night

A tough first period for the Austin Bruins proved to be too much to overcome as they dropped Saturday night’s contest with the Bismarck Bobcats, 3-2.

In the first period, the Bruins came out of the gates with some good physicality. Despite the strong play, the Bobcats got on the board first. Only 3:13 into the first period, Sam Martel netted his fourth goal of the season rifling a wrist-shot past Bruins goaltender Brett Miller. Less than three minutes later, Bismarck improved their lead to 2-0, when Adam Stacho buried a back-door pass for his first of the night. Nearly three-and-a-half minutes later, Stacho found the back of the net on a nearly identical play for his second of the night giving the Bobcats a 3-0 lead. After surrendering the third goal of the game on nine shots, Brett Miller was pulled in favor of Tyler Shea after

The second period was much better for the Bruins who made some adjustments during the break. A little over five minutes into the second period, the Bruins got their first goal of the night thanks to their newest player, Kyle Oleksiuk. The Canadian-born forward took a pass from Josef Mysak and craftily slipped past a poke check and got off a grade-A shot which beat Bismarck goalie Ryan Ullan. It took nearly thirteen minutes before the lamp was lit again, but for the second time in a row, it was the Bruins. While on the power-play, Hugh Quinn fielded a pass from Hugh Larkin in close and pushed the puck past Ullan’s left leg making the game 3-2, a score which held up until the end of the period.

In the third period, neither team found the back of the net, despite the Bruins getting quality chances late in the third period with the Shea pulled. Ultimately, the Bruins couldn’t get the game-tying goal and fell to the Bobcats on back-to-back nights, this time by a final score of 3-2.

After coming on in relief, Tyler Shea turned aside every shot he faced and earned a no-decision in the game. Brett Miller was saddled with the loss while Ryan Ullan earned the win for Bismarck. Following the defeat, the Bruins record fell to 24-15-2-4 while the Bobcats improved to 27-11-4-3 on the season.

Up next for the Bruins is a pair of games on the road against the first-place Aberdeen Wings before returning home to Riverside Arena on Friday, February 28 and Saturday February, 29 where they’ll host the Bobcats once again.