Wilderness Split in Bismark

Dwight Cadwell – NSO

The Minnesota Wilderness and the Bismarck Bobcats split their weekend series when the emotional roller coaster was finished; the two teams stood pretty much where they started with a split.
The Wilderness won 5-4 on Friday as Brett Heikkila scored the game winning goal, in a game where the Wilderness who led 2-0 and 3-1 at one point saw the Bobcats score three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead early in the third period.
Aaron Miller scored an unassisted goal to tie the contest at 4-4 at the 8:51 mark of the third period and Heikkila netted the game winner at 12:29. Billy Exell & Michael Covach gave the Wilderness a 2-0 lead inthe first period and Daniel Litchke added the lone second period goal for Minnesota.
Ryan Anderson stopped 21-25 shots he faced as he picked up the victory in nets.
Saturday saw a reversal in the game roles from Friday as the Bobcats scored the first two goals to take a 2-0 lead after one period of play, before the Wilderness scored three unanswered second period goals; only to see the Bobcats tie the game in the third period and it was Tanner Salsberry scoring the game winner at 2:58 of the overtime period on the power play.
Litchke scored his second goal of the weekend to start the second period scoring Saturday night, Robb Stautz, and Nicholas Lehtimaki also scored in the second period for the Wilderness.
The Wilderness actually came out of the VFW Sports Center with an edge on the Bobcats. Minnesota picked up two points on Friday and Saturday’s overtime loss was good for another point in the NAHL standings. The Wilderness now stands 15-7-2 for 32 points. The Bobcats, who halted Minnesota’s six-game winning streak, stand 12-13-1 for 25 points.
Minnesota will return to action next Saturday night when they will face the Austin Bruins in Austin then Sunday the will take on the Magicians in Richfield.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com