Bruins pound Brookings, 6-1
Published 10:30 pm Friday, March 27, 2015
The Bruins’ Trevor Boyd pulls the puck in as he swings towards the net in front of Brookings’ Garrett Elmore during the second period Friday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Austin Bruins wrapped up the home portion of the schedule with a commanding 6-1 win over the Brookings Blizzard Friday night in Riverside Arena.
It was an unconventional night for the Bruins (37-11-11) where executed plans didn’t work out, but some lucky bounces did. Regardless, the end result was a win for the surging Bruins as they turn an eye toward the NAHL playoffs.
Bruins goalie Evan Smith makes a save against Brookings in the first period Friday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“It’s a funny game,” said head coach Chris Tok. “You can set things up perfectly and not get a score, but then we got a couple bounces to go. As long as the puck crosses the line.”
At times, it seemed like the Blizzard (19-31-9) was doing everything it could to give Austin its scoring chances. Brookings couldn’t seem to stay out of the penalty box, giving the Bruins nine power plays on the night, however the Bruins could only get two goals out of it.
“We should have gotten a lot more in a couple different instances,” Tok said. “There were also some backdoor opportunities that we didn’t execute.”
Alex Pettersson got the Bruins on the board first at the 6:49 mark in the first period on the power play. Jade Miller added the period’s second goal at the 12:26 mark and Alex Jasiek scored a third on a penalty shot at 14:35.
Brookings’ Viktor Lindell gave the Blizzard some brief life out of the gates in the first minute of the second, but Pettersson collected his second goal of the game toward the end of the period to regain the three-goal cushion.
Goals by Tony Ulgem and Zach Kennedy put the game well out of Brookings’ reach in the third.
Brookings goalie Ryan Kubic didn’t get much of a respite the entire night as Austin peppered with 42 shots while Austin goal Evan Smith saw just 17 shots and stopping 16.
Austin has one game remaining in the regular season, again against Brookings Saturday night, who may just as soon not see the bears the rest of the year.
The Bruins have an 8-2 record against Brookings this year, more than a few of those being lopsided and even though the Blizzard will see their season end Saturday night, the Bruins still have some things to play for.
“We still have an opportunity to finish second or third overall,” Tok said. “And that’s big. We want to be in the best possible position moving forward.”
The Bruins’ Alex Pettersson plays the puck behind the net during the second period against Brookings Friday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Scoring summary
Brookings 0 1 0 — 1
Austin 3 1 2 — 6
First period
(A) Alex Pettersson PP (Ian Scheid, Alex Jasiek), 6:49
(A) Jade Miller (Jasiek, Brian Bachnak), 12:26
(A) Jasiek (penalty shot), 14:35
Second Period
(B) Viktor Lindell (Nate Colwell), :39
(A) Pettersson (Trevor Boyd), 13:10
Third Period
(A) Tony Uglem PP (Luke Dietsch, Jake Arroyo), 11:24
(A) Zach Kennedy (Scheid, Miller), 12:14
Shots: Brookings 17, Austin 42
Powerplays: Brookings 0-for-5, Austin 2-for-9
