After delivering a 7-3 beat down to Bismarck Friday night, the Bobcats were the ones who came out swinging first Saturday night, routing the Albert Lea Thunder 8-2 at the City Arena.

Bismarck (16-8-6) regained its form that has helped it to the top of the Central Division and grabbed a four-point lead over Owatonna with the victory. The Thunder (7-19-2), however, ended up worse off than before the series and fell three points behind fourth place Alexandria, negating any possibility of climbing out of the cellar.

“You punch somebody in the face, you better be ready to get punched back,” said Albert Lea head coach Chuck Linkenheld. “The neighborhood I grew up in, if I punch a guy in the face, the next day he’s going to come back looking for me and I better be ready to go. We punched them in the face (Friday) and we weren’t ready to get punched back.”

Overconfident from its big victory the night before, Albert Lea was clearly not ready for what the Bobcats had in store. Bismarck scored three first period goals, including a shorthanded goal, while the Thunder played back on their heels and gave the Bobcats plenty of space in front of the net. Nick Jensen, Ryan Jacobson and Brett Bower all notched goals in the first period.

“They were beating us in one-on-one battles, that’s what killed us,” said Albert Lea forward Brett Meyers. “We just kind of backed away from a lot of checks.”

Albert Lea turned in a better effort in the second period and got two goals back when Derek Docken and Stephen Obarzanek scored to make it a 4-3 game, but the ugliness was just beginning.

The Thunder had a chance to make it a one-goal game in the third period when they went on the power play at 4:14, but a turnover near the Bismarck blue line allowed Jason Fabian to skate the length of the rink and score a shorthanded breakaway goal at the 5:26 mark to make it 5-2 and essentially put the game away.

The Bobcats weren’t finished though, and were out to make an example of Albert Lea. Bismarck scored three more times in the final period, all in the final three minutes of play and outshot the Thunder 20-7.

“We played hard yesterday and we just thought we’d beat them but we came out flatfooted,” said Albert Lea forward Michael Kantor. “We didn’t have our game out there (Saturday).”

The Bobcats outshot Albert Lea 48-28 in the game and scored twice on the power play.

The best Albert Lea can hope for now is a victory at Alexandria Sunday to gain back the ground it lost after the Blizzard swept North Iowa.

“We don’t know how to string wins together yet because we’re learning how to win,” Linkenheld said.

Bismarck 8, Albert Lea 2

Bismarck 3 1 4 — 8

Albert Lea 0 2 0 — 2

First Period—1, Bismarck, Nick Jensen 8 (Jason Fabian), 6:55 (sh.). 2, Bismarck, Ryan Jacobson 15 (unassisted), 8:36. 3, Bismarck, Brett Bower 1 (Casey Kleisinger), 16:18. Penalties—John Avino, Bis (cross checking), 2:35; Gavin Hartzog, Bis (interference), 5:19; Tyler Wilson, Bis (cross checking), 16:35.

Second Period—4, Bismarck, Trent Johnson 3 (unassisted), 2:57. 5, Albert Lea, Derek Docken 2 (Chris Cass), 4:10. 6, Albert Lea, Stephen Obarzanek 4 (Chris Cass, Patrick Kinkopf), 11:10. Penalties—Jason Fabian, Bis, major (fighting), 12:06; George Malliaras, Bis (fighting, instigator), 12:06; Mike Kantor, Alb, major (fighting), 12:06; Bryan Mitchell, Alb, game ejection (fighting), 12:06; Matt Hannibal, game ejection (fighting), 12:06; Brian Nehring, Alb game misconduct (fighting), 12:06; Ilya Kravtchouk, Bis, game ejection (fighting), 12:06; Sean McKenzie, Bis (fighting, misconduct), 12:06.

Third Period—7, Bismarck, Fabian 14 (unassisted), 5:26 (sh.). 8, Bismarck, Kleisinger 10 (Jacobson, Tim Serratore), 17:00 (pp.). 9, Bismarck, Johnson 4 (unassisted), 17:19. 10, Bismarck, Hartzog 1 (Fabian), 19:40 (pp.). Penalties—Bower, Bis (high sticking), 4:14; Ricky Brown, Alb (holding), 13:51; Alex Niestrom, Alb (charging), 19:25; Docken, Alb (cross checking), 19:56.

Shots on Goal—Bismarck 13-9-20—42. Albert Lea 12-9-7—28.

Power-play opportunities—Bismarck 2 of 3; Albert Lea 0 of 5.

Goalies—Bismarck, Ryan Faragher 10-4-5 (28 shots, 26 saves); Albert Lea, Ben Waalkens 2-10-0 (48-40).

A—425. T—2:15.

Referee—Brady Johnson. Linesmen—Matthew Tyree, Mark Supina.