Bruins lose hard fought battle to Bobcats
Published 10:05 pm Friday, May 9, 2025
The Bruins’ Ashton Bynum lines up a shot against Bismarck in the second period of a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Ryan Lund closes in on a hit against the boards during the first half against Bismarck in the first period of a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Alex Laurenza carries the puck against the boards during the second period against Bismarck in a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Luc Malkhassian tries to control the puck against Bismarck’s Ian Engel during the second period of a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Connor Beckwith battles in front of Bismarck goalie Tomas Anderson during the second period of a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Gavin Hruza carries the puck into the Bismarck zone during the second period in a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins Alex Laurenza battles with Bismarck’s Zane Rowan during a faceoff during the second period in a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Bruins’ Nathan Williams tracks the pucks against the boards under pressure during the first period of a Central Division semifinal game Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
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Nothing came easy for either team in Riverside Arena Friday night, but there was no shortage of excitement as the Austin Bruins and Bismarck Bobcats battled it out in a pivotal game three.
The Bobcats came away with a 2-1 win, that was a hard fought effort on both sides of the ice.
In a game where hardly any penalties were called, things got physical with Austin trailing 2-1 in the final five minutes and both teams were called for roughing, leading to a two minutes four-on-four stretch. Neither team scored in that stretch, and Austin pulled its goalie with 1:45 left in the game. While the move created several chances, including a rebound chance that slipped away in the last second, Bismarck, which now has a 2-1 series lead in the NAHL Central semifinal, prevailed.
“We just couldn’t get a bounce. We had a couple of chances and it didn’t go our way,” Bruins forward Alex Laurenza said. “No one’s giving up and we all know we can come back and get two wins a row to keep it going.”
Thomas Anderson stopped 26 shots for Bismarck and Jack Solomon stopped 19 shots for the Bruins.
“Both goalies are unreal and it’s pretty hard to score,” Laurenza said. “Tips, screens and gritty goals are how you score in the playoffs. You have to get to the net and bang in a rebound.”
Austin’s first goal of the night was a massive one as Ashton Bynum hammered one home to tie the game at 1-1 hallway through the third period, but just a couple of minutes later Bismarck’s Louie Kamienski scored a goal right off the face-off after a timeout to make it 2-1.
Shots were hard to come by for much of the night as both teams were effective in protecting their goalies for much of the first two periods. Bismarck finally broke the ice when Bismarck’s Nick Snyder crashed the net and finished a rush to make it 1-0 Bobcats with 2:02 left in the second.
The Bruins and Bobcats will play game four in Riverside Arena at 7:05 p.m. A game five, if necessary, would be played in Bismarck Monday night.
SCORING SUMMARY
Bismarck 0 1 1 – 2
Austin 0 0 1 – 1
First period
No scoring
Second period
(B) Nick Snyder (Jakub Kopecky, Kyle Doll) 18:54
Third period
(A) Ashton Bynum (EJ Paddington, Ludvig Mellgren) 9:57
(B) Louie Kamienski (Snyder) 11:32
