Bruins sweep Wings to move on to NAHL Central Division Finals
Published 11:12 pm Friday, April 10, 2015
Jackson Graalum, of the Aberdeen Wings, left, hits the puck away from Josh Wilkins, right, and Ian Scheid, back center, of the Austin Bruins, during the first period of Friday night’s playoff game at the Odde Ice Center. Photo by John Davis/Aberdeen News
The Austin Bruins picked up their first postseason sweep in franchise history when they upended the Aberedeen Wings 4-3 in the NAHL Central Division semifinals in Aberdeen, South Dakota Friday.
The Wings scored twice in a four-minute span in the third period to tie the game up at 3-3, but Nico Strum gave the Bruins the win when he scored with 1:56 left in the game.
Will Hammer, of the Aberdeen Wings, right, gets pushed into the boards by Jade Miller, of the Austin Bruins, left, during the first period of Friday night’s playoff game at the Odde Ice Center. Photo by John Davis/Aberdeen News
The Bruins will now host Minot, which swept Bismarck, in two weeks when the Central Division Finals begin. It will be Austin’s fourth consecutive appearance in the division finals.
Jake Kielly had 19 saves in the win for Austin.
SCORING SUMMMARY
Austin 2 0 2 — 4
Aberdeen 0 1 2 — 3
First period
(A) Luke Forfar (power play) (Alex Pettersson, Cory Dunn) 10:27
(A) Brian Bachnak (JC Maclean, Liam Feeney) 17:59
Second period
(AB) Will Hammer (Jackson Graalum, Ryan Cook) 17:11
Third period
(A) Riesse Zmolek (Pettersson) 4:39
(AB) Tucker DeYoung (Kyle Haak, Tanner Okeson) 8:22
(AB) DeYoung (power play) (Eric Moser, Michael Soucier) 12:04
(A) Nico Strum (Zmolek, Bachnak) 18:04
Power plays: Austin — 1-for-1; Aberdeen — 1-for-2
Shots: Austin — 42; Aberdeen — 22
