Bruins drop another shootout
Published 10:13 pm Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Austin’s Liam Feeney grapples with the Wilderness’s Dan Litchke as they race to the puck Wednesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Bruins just can’t seem to figure out how to win in a shootout.
The Bruins dropped to 2-8 in their 10 games that have gone into shootouts when they lost 3-2 to the Minnesota Wilderness (28-10-4 overall) in Riverside Arena Wednesday.
Austin’s Nico Sturm strips the Wilderness’s Billy Exell during the first period Wednesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin (22-9-11 overall) took a 2-1 lead in the shootout when Liam Freeney scored, but the next three Bruins failed to score and Luke Dietsch, who had a chance to force a seventh shooter, couldn’t get a shot off on the final attempt of the shootout.
The Wilderness took the lead in the shootout when Aaron Miller, their sixth shooter of the night, connected on a goal.
The Bruins had a 2-1 lead and a power play to start to the third period, but they failed to add to their lead as they were out-shot 8-4 in the period and 5-2 in overtime. The Wilderness tied the game when Tyler Cline scooted a shot past Evan Smith, who had 19 saves for Austin.
“When you play like you did tonight for not sixty minutes, you’re disappointed because you didn’t play well enough to win the game in regulation,” Austin head coach Chris Tok said. “Some of the efforts by the guys in the shootout are the same as the guys in the game. Sometimes we go half assed.”
The Wilderness scored their first goal on a four-minute power play in the second period. Austin immediately seized momentum after the power play when Jacob Kullberg scored on a one-timer to tie the game at 1-1. Austin took a 2-1 lead five minutes later when Zach Kennedy connected on a one-timer after Josh Wilkins skated behind the net to set him up.
The Bruins are three points behind Minot in the NAHL Central Division race and Tok would like to see his team play with more urgency late in the game from now on.
“They end up tying it and you’re scrapping to win the game and you don’t get it done,” Tok said. “It’s just not good enough. We’ve got to be better.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Wilderness 0 1 1 0 1 — 3
Bruins 0 2 0 0 0 — 2
First period
No scoring
Second period
(M) Michael Covach (power play) (Niklas Lehtimaki, Tyler Cline) 5:11
(A) Jacob Kullberg (Nico Strum, Alex Petersson) 7:28
(A) Zach Kennedy (Trevor Boyd, Josh Wilkins) 13:32
Third period
(M) Tyler Cline (Janis Jaks, Ivan Chukarov) 5:25
Shots: Austin — 21; Wilderness — 31
Power plays: Austin — 0-for-4; Wilderness, 1-for-4
