Bismarck's defense keying undefeated start

The Bobcats are back, and they are back in style.

Led by a defense that is tied for third in the NAHL in goals allowed - the two teams ahead of them, Aberdeen and Minot, have each only played five games thus far - and a penalty kill that has been lights out, Bismarck has started their season a perfect 7-0-0.

"Our up-ice has been really good, we're not giving easy entries and when you can close teams off at the top of the circles or the blue line," Bobcats head coach Garrett Roth said. "We want to hold that line, force teams to beat a guy one-on-one or chip the puck in and win a footrace.

"Our guys did a nice job on the kill all weekend. Those guys know how important it is to kill penalties and the momentum change it can create for a team, and we're deep, we have four lines that all can create offense, can all manage the puck and execute our gameplan, but the best part is our top guys don't have to go over the boards and kill every time we're shorthanded, we can rely on guys to get those extra minutes in a game."

Last year's Bobcats team set a new franchise record with ten shutouts, made the playoffs and gave division-winning Minot everything it could handle in the division finals.

While seemingly unlikely to match that shutout mark, this year's team seems perfectly ready to pick up where last year left off in defensive prowess.

The Bobcats last year tied for fourth in the league with 145 goals allowed (2.42 per game). This year's group has bumped that up a notch, allowing more than three goals just once so far and allowing only one goal four separate times, including twice in this weekend's sweep of the Minnesota Mallards.

"We have two great goaltenders and they have done a marvelous job for us between the pipes," Roth said. "We have a lot of talent on this team, a lot of guys who are proven point producers at this level, and I've been proud of how willing they've been to dive into the defensive side of things and clean up our defensive zone."

Bismarck's penalty kill has taken a step forward and seems poised to be one of the driving forces of a successful year for the Bobcats.

Off a year in which their special teams on both sides of the ice had their ups and downs - the Bobcats finished middle of the pack in their power play and top ten in penalty kill percentage in the 2023-24 season - Bismarck is picking up what has been a struggling power play through the first 10 percent of the season (3 for 30, 10 percent) with a near-spotless penalty kill (18 of 19, 95 percent).

"We're going to see a number of penalty kills that will be very aggressive, Austin comes to mind, we've played them a fair bit and I know how their coach likes to pressure," Roth said. "We have to have our support valves, rotate, get some quick puck movement. We were a little stale, we'd puck handle and wait for somebody to be ready. We were handcuffing each other on the power play.

"When you have a group that has this mentality and guys you can rely on as a coaching staff (on the penalty kill), it makes our job so much easier not worrying about who is going out, you just have to manage minutes and make sure everybody gets the minutes they deserve."

With an entire roster capable of contributing to their defensive special teams, Roth's Bobcats have been a tough group to solve, with their only power play goal allowed coming in their 2-1 win over Danbury at the NAHL Showcase.

Saturday's matchup against the Mallards was Bismarck's latest display of their overall defensive steadiness and their power play in particular.

After a high-flying 6-1 win over the Mallards in Friday's home opener, goals were hard to come by for both teams in Saturday's matchup, but tension certainly wasn't.

"We came out flying last night, we had one of our best performances of the season last night," Roth said. "With all the emotion from the home opener, with the fan support and everything, we didn't have the legs underneath us right from the get-go tonight, but we found it.

"There were a few situations where we got the extra (penalty), ultimately that's how the referee saw it, but I like the fact that if the guys see something on the ice they don't like, they stick up for each other."

Minnesota's Jacob Guille really got the party started late in the second, drawing a two-minute minor for checking from behind and adding a misconduct penalty for good measure that got both teams riled up.

That led into a third period where shoving matches almost became old hat, and two separate fights broke out, leading to several players - Jackson Smithknecht and Eli Bailey for the Mallards, Kyle Doll and Jakub Kopecky for the Bobcats - spending lengthy stretches in the penalty box.

"The Mallards were struggling to keep up with our pace, and they have an honest group over there, in the second half of the game they were trying to get some momentum for themselves," Roth said. "There were a couple of scrums after the whistle, but I was proud of our guys not backing down, because that's the mentality we have to have.

"A game like tonight is something we hadn't seen yet, but it builds camaraderie and I was pleased to see that from our group."

The kind of dirty-work goal that has evaded the Bobcats at times early in the year got them on the board first, with Zane Rowan absorbing a hard check from a Minnesota defender while smacking in a feed from Tristen Trevino midway through the second period.

Bismarck added their second and final goal of the night on a bad-angle shot from Julian Beaumont, who threw a shot towards Minnesota's net and goalie Richard Rafaj couldn't handle it cleanly as it skipped through his pads and into the net.

"You're not always going to have your A-game, but you have to find ways to win hockey games and I thought our guys did a nice job of managing the game," Roth said. "We controlled the game, didn't overextend, managed the puck, and made the right decisions. It was a good shift (that led to the first goal), we had good cycles and it was a great look to find Tristen who activated off the bench, and then Rowan went to the weak-side post with his stick on the ice, that was a big-time play."

"One of our keys after the first period was we didn't think we had enough traffic, and (on Friday) we had a ton of traffic. We didn't get inside the dots and make it tough on Rafaj, but ultimately Beau did a great job of getting a step on a guy, and when you put a shot on net you never know what could happen."

Given plenty of opportunities on the power play, Bismarck was unable to come through, as a pressure-filled Minnesota penalty kill made life tough on the Bobcats.

That allowed the Mallards to keep the Bobcats within reach, and moments after Rafaj hit the bench for an extra attacker, Brady Borgestad beat Bismarck goalie Kai Weigel to cut Bismarck's lead in half.

"Something we talked about from day one is if you're going to achieve the ultimate goal, winning a Cup, there will be adversity you face throughout the season," Roth said. "What we want our group to be able to do is that you can only control the controllable, your effort and how we want to play. We can't control a ref making a call, a bad bounce, a goal against that was off a stick. You just go out for the next shift and do your job, your assignment."

The Bobcats' defense won out from there. A timely clear from Weigel - attempting a full-ice puck clear towards an empty Minnesota net - induced a Minnesota player to high-stick the puck.

A boon for the Bobcats came from that play of the puck, as the Mallards had seven players on the ice, which handed them their seventh and final penalty of the night with 44 seconds to go.

Needing to do little more than to keep possession, Bismarck skated out their second win on home ice and kept their record spotless.

"Weigel is a good puck-handler, any time he has the puck on his stick he can break pressure with the best of him," Roth said. "He was able to dust the puck off, there wasn't any pressure, and he tried to send it the length of the ice. He got it elevated enough and enough on it to force them to touch the puck with too many men on the ice, and not too many goalies can do that, send the puck that way."

Another tough test of Bismarck's undefeated season comes next weekend. Fresh off a shock sweep at home by Minot, the previously undefeated Austin Bruins (4-2-0, 8 pts.) hit the road to start their season series against the Bobcats.

Back on familiar ground as far as rivalries he is familiar with after starting the Central Division schedule against the two newcomers to the NAHL, Roth is looking forward to another test against one of Bismarck's biggest rivals in recent years.

"We'll enjoy this weekend, the guys will wipe the slate clean a bit," Roth said. "We'll start to figure out the game plan, how we want to approach this week. Through the first seven games we've done a nice job, but Austin has been one of our biggest rivals, and we know what to expect from them."