Bobcats Cruise To 7-3 Win Over Wolves, Take Regular Season Series

WYTHEVILLE, VA-

In the fifth and final meeting between the two empire division foes before a massive Valentine's Night crowd of 2,269 at Hitachi Energy Arena, the Blue Ridge Bobcats rattled off a string of six straight goals en route to a 7-3 win over the Watertown Wolves. The victory gave the Bobcats the overall final edge in the season series, three games to two. 

Watertown struck first for the second consecutive night thanks to a power play goal from Steven Klinck. Dustin Jesseau answered to tie the game at the 13:30 mark of the first and things were tied 1-1 after one for the second night in a row.

A five-goal  Blue Ridge barrage followed and helped the Bobcats pull away. Nick McHugh started things with his first goal back in a Bobcats uniform at the 4:25 mark of the second. Jesseau followed less than five minutes later with his second of the night, stuffing his own rebound between the pads of Watertown goaltender Matt Lenz to double the lead at 3-1. Martin capped off the middle frame with a power play goal at 18:59 to give the Bobcats a three goal lead heading to the third for the second straight night.

Three more goals followed in the third for Blue Ridge to put an exclamation point on the game and the weekend that saw Blue Ridge outscore Watertown by a whopping total of 19-7. Carson Gallagher tapped home a goal off a great feed from Martin at 5:07. Just 1:27 later, #27 Nick Stuckless struck for his fourth goal of the weekend to push the lead to 6-1. Mike Mercurio converted on a shorthanded breakaway as the icing on the cake at 14:14 of the third to make it 7-1 and ensure victory despite late Wolves man advantage markers from Darion Benchich and Chris Corgan.

The line of Gallagher, Jesseau and Martin combined to earn third, second and first star respectively. Greg Hussey made 26 saves in net for Blue Ridge. Lenz did everything he could and more in between the pipes for Watertown, stopping 57 of 64 Bobcats shots.

Blue Ridge now heads south for a cross-division clash on the shores of the Gulf Coast with the Biloxi Breakers. Puck drop for both games is set for 8:05 EST (7:05 CT) from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, and fans can tune in along the Blue Ridge Hockey Network on Sporfie, YouTube, Facebook Live, and WCGX.