Trailing 2-0 after forty minutes of play, the Lloydminster Bobcats were able to battle back into today's contest against the Drayton Valley Thunder to make it 2-1, but couldn't find a tying goal as Drayton Valley held off a number of Bobcats opportunities to hang on for the win.
Chasetan Braid had the Bobcats lone goal, and it looked like the visitors tied the game with seven seconds left on the clock but the official's whistle had blown the play dead just moments before the puck crossed the line, sending the team home with a regulation loss today.
The Thunder got things going in the first as Tyler Benko banged home a power play goal to make it 1-0 late in the period after taking a cross ice feed from Nicholas Sutter. The one goal lead would hold up for over twenty minutes before the Thunder struck again.
With just over a minute left in the second period, Felip Gosselin took a feed in the offensive zone and ripped a wrist shot past Bobcats netminder Austin McGrath to make it 2-0 at the second intermission.
Early in the third, the Bobcats gained new life as Chasetan Braid elected to shoot on a 2-on-1, breaking the shutout of Thunder goaltender Parker Tobin to cut the Thunder lead in half, but that's as close as the Cats would get. Tobin finished the day with 21 saves on 22 shots, while McGrath turned aside 35 of 37 shots in the Bobcats net.
The Cats came away empty handed in a two-game weekend swing through Spruce Grove (4-2 loss) and Drayton Valley, and will look to get back into the win column on Friday night as they host the Sherwood Park Crusaders.