For the second straight game, Zach Kaiser scored a dramatic third period goal that stood up as the game winner as the Lloydminster Bobcats dropped the Olds Grizzlys 4-2 on Saturday night at the Olds Sportsplex.
With the game tied 2-2 after forty minutes, Kaiser took a feed out of the corner from Kobe Walker on a Bobcats man advantage and slipped the puck past Olds goaltender Ben Giesbrecht to give the Bobcats the lead just 1:36 into the third. The Grizzlys would push throughout the period with 12 shots on goal but Austin McGrath shut the door to preserve his eighth win of the season, and Ian Dubourdieu netted his first AJHL goal into the empty net in the dying seconds to seal the victory at 4-2.
It was the Bobcats getting on the board early in tonight's game as Rob Johnson drove to the front of the net from deep in Grizzlys territory and slipped the puck past Giesbrecht just 3:40 into the first period to make it 1-0. Linemates Zach Webb and Chasetan Braid were credited with the two assists.
In the second period, the Cats followed the same script and made it a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes when Brady Barclay converted 2:41 into the frame, with assists from Walker and Kaiser. However, the Grizzlys were able to get back into it quickly with a pair of goals within 0:38 of each other midway through the period from Kabe Bleay (first AJHL goal) and Jeremy Klessens to knot the game at 2-2 through two periods.
Up until Kaiser's winner in the third, the Bobcats power play unit had been 0/2, and finished the game 1/3. The Grizzlys were 0/4 on the power play tonight, giving up one shorthanded goal when Dubourdieu hit the empty net down 6-on-4 at the end of the third.
Austin McGrath made 33 saves on 35 shots overall, and he and Jeremy Kelleway have combined to stop 70 of 74 shots over two games this weekend.
The Cats will close out their three game southern swing looking to sweep the weekend Sunday afternoon against the Calgary Canucks at 2:30 at the Max Bell Arena.