Bobcats Shorthanded Surge Seals Opening Weekend Sweep

WYHTEVILLE, VA-

The Blue Ridge Bobcats rode a franchise record for fastest pair of shorthanded goals, scoring twice a man down in a 14-second span to cement a 3-2 win and opening weekend sweep of the Columbus River Dragons before a crowd of 1,610 at Hitachi Energy Arena on Pink in the Rink Night.

The only goal of a tight-checking opening period came off a prolonged stretch of offensive zone pressure for Columbus, when Ron Jay Peeachaw pivoted a backhand pass and found Jestin Somero all alone on the doorstep for a backdoor tap in behind Max Macchioni at the 17:45 mark of the first.

Vladislav Vlasov scored the lone goal of a tight-checking middle frame, blasting a point-blank one-timer off a great setup by Patriks Marcinkevics under the crossbar to tie the game on the power play at the 6:25 mark of the second.

Nikolai Dulak took advantage of a wild sequence of events at the Columbus attacking blue line and took off on a solo shorthanded breakaway, going forehand to backhand to beat Doug Wakelyn and make his first professsional goal the eventual game winner at the 3:26 mark of the third. 14 seconds later, Marcinkevics threw the dagger with another dazzling display of stickhandling to knife through the Columbus power play and snipe home a wrist shot from the high slot. Lare Pahtayken added a goal late with an extra attacker on and Wakelyn pulled with under a minute remaining in regulation, but Blue Ridge held on to earn the 3-2 win behind 32 saves from Macchioni.

Dulak's first pro goal earned him third star honors, while multi-point nights from Vlasov and Marcinkevics earned them second and first star honors respectively.

The 2-0 Bobcats now hit the road for their first-ever visit to Watertown, NY to face the Wolves next weekend. Both games begin at 7:05 EST and will be available on the Blue Ridge Hockey Network.