Hot off a pair of road wins in Grande Prairie last weekend, the Bobcats went a perfect 2 for 2 winning both games at the AJHL Showcase before falling to Fort McMurray 3-2 at home on Sunday evening to halt their win streak at 4.
Here are the recaps of this weekend's games.
Friday, September 27 @ Calgary Mustangs: 4-1 W
The Bobcats move up to 5th place in the North Division after beating the Calgary Mustangs this afternoon at the AJHL Showcase in Spruce Grove.
The Bobcats continued their strong early-game play, opening the scoring only minutes into the 1st period on Austin Yaremchuk's first goal of the season. Fellow defencemen Tyler Kunz and Grant Baker also found the net, giving the team a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Mustangs answered back with a goal in the 2nd period, but goaltender Devin Green kept Calgary at bay setting aside 17 of 18 total shots, including a couple big saves late in the 2nd and 3rd periods.
Braden Crone, who came into the game leading the team in assists with five, was awarded with his first goal of the season for the empty net clincher. The final score was 4-1 for the Bobcats, who out shot the Mustangs 34-18.
Numerous NCAA, CIS, and WHL scouts were on hand to watch the Bobcats extend their winning streak to three games.
Saturday, September 28 vs. Olds Grizzlys: 3-2 OTW
Another win this afternoon for the Bobcats makes it FOUR IN A ROW! The 3-2 OT win over the Olds Grizzlys puts the Bobcats at 5-3 and moves the team up to 3rd place in the North Division (that's right – THIRD!).
Olds opened up the scoring in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission. Nolan Yaremchuk answered back for the Bobcats in the second period, but Olds retook the lead shortly after. Defenceman Taylor Mulder, who was heavily recruited by the Grizzlys, scored his 4th goal of the season to tie it at 2-2 at the end of the 2nd period. N. Yaremchuk picked up his second point of the day with an assist on the play. After a scoreless 3rd period, Braden Crone scored 1:36 into OT on a great individual effort to score his second goal in as many games to win it 3-2 for the Bobcats.
Tanner Dunkle, who was traded from Olds midway through last season, continued his 8 game point streak registering 2 assists in the game (for those paying attention, we've only PLAYED 8 games!). Dunkle leads the team in scoring with 11 points, and sits tied for 13th in league scoring.
First year goalie Tyler Kuehn (2-0) made 17 saves on 19 shots to pick up his second win of the season. The Bobcats mustered 21 shots, and once again had strong special teams keeping Olds' powerplay 0 for 4 and scoring both regulation goals on the powerplay in 9 attempts.
The game also contained many fights between the two physical teams. Spencer Johnstone, Mitch Brennan, and Linden Springer all found dance partners, and all won their fights in our unbiased opinion.
The team will head back home from the AJHL Showcase for a matinee home game aginst the Oil Barons tomorrow at 2:30 PM. Both teams will be on their third game in as many days, and both will be hungry to keep their win streaks in tack.
Sunday, September 29 vs.Fort McMurray Oil Barons: 3-2 L
Despite a strong effort, the Bobcats lost a close game 3-2 at home yesterday afternoon to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons, who now sit undefeated at 10-0.
The Bobcats got off to a strong first period start and went into the dressing room after 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Tanner Dunkle cashing in on a nice cross-ice feed from Spencer Johnstone on the powerplay.
The 2nd period found the Bobcats in some penalty trouble, and Fort McMurray was able to take the momentum back scoring 2 goals in the period to take a 2-1 lead.
Former Baker Hughes Midget AAA player Jetlan Houcher scored the eventual game winning goal for the Oil Barons on the powerplay at the start of the 3rd to make it 3-1. Lukas Biensch earned his first goal of the season for the Bobcats on a nice individual play on the penalty kill in the last minutes of the game to make it 3-2, but that's as close as the team would get.
Devin Green stopped 20 of 23 shots in the loss, while the Bobcats managed 31 shots of Fort McMurray's Tanner Jaillet.
The team now sits at 4th place in the North Division with 10 points, and will head to Bonnyville for a road game tonight against the Pontiacs. Puckdrop this evening is 7:00 PM. The team's next home game is on Friday, Oct. 11 against the defending RBC Cup Champion Brooks Bandits.
A huge thank you to all the fans that stuck around for the post-game skate with the team!
