Submitted Photo Cole Vietz-Reile and Jacob Shriver battle for the puck against the Bismarck High School Demons.

Bottineau-Rugby Braves punctuated its Jan. 15 home win against the Bismarck Demons with another win at Bismarck’s Capital Ice Complex on Jan. 28. The 2-0 win against the Demons on Jan. 28 buoyed the Braves’ confidence when it faced Bismarck Legacy Sabres in Bismarck the next day. In the Jan. 29 game against Legacy, the 8-5 Sabres edged out the Braves 3-2. The Braves left town with an eight win, nine loss record.

Defenders made the difference against Bismarck on Jan. 28. The Braves penetrated Demon territory, keeping Bismarck goalie Carter Shafer busy with 24 saves on 26 shots on goal. Braves goalie Easton Freeman stayed even busier, making 39 saves on 39 shots on goal.

Penalties put the Demons in foul trouble. Bismarck defender Ethan Wood caught a major penalty for boarding. Although the Braves stayed in Demons’ territory in the first 17 minutes, the period ended with no score.

Braves forward Colton Getzlaff landed an unassisted even strength goal in the second period. The Braves held the Demons at bay. In the third period, Getzlaff struck again, landing another unassisted goal. The Demons struggled, racking up minutes in the penalty box. At the game’s end, Bismarck would serve 23 minutes for penalties, while the Braves served just two.

“I thought the guys all worked hard and I was pretty proud of the effort,” Braves Coach Jesse Nostdahl said of the game. “Easton did a great job closing that game down in the last 8 minutes after we went up 2-0. It’s great to see his development through the year so far,” Nostdahl said of the Braves’ goalie.

The Braves stayed in Bismarck for its next game against Bismarck Legacy on Jan. 29. Bottineau-Rugby kept its momentum from the previous game going, with forward Ethan Siemens landing the Braves’ first goal with assistance from Getzlaff in the first period. Getzlaff would land another unassisted goal in the second period.

Although the Braves’ defenders stayed strong at the game’s beginning, Nostdahl said, “The second period we got burnt on a few small mistakes that unfortunately cost us the game. It was a competitive though, and hopefully we can clean up a few things and get the split on them when they travel back to Bottineau next week.”

Bismarck Legacy will face the Braves in Bottineau on Feb. 8.

Nostdahl added, “I thought our power play was a bit out of sync this weekend, so we’ll get back to some of the basics on that here in practice and hope it looks better (against) Minot. We kind of just abandoned our typical power play in the 3rd and went into protect mode to close the BHS game out. Thankfully we got through it with the shutout.”