Bruins drop another close one in shootout loss to Jets
Published 10:21 pm Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Austin Bruins goalie Zach Driscoll deflects a shot in the first period against Janesville Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Bruins have made it a habit of staying close so far this season, but they can’t seem to consistently get over the top.
The Bruins lost a shootout 3-2 to Janesville in Riverside Arena Tuesday night as the Jets scored on three of their five shots in the shootout and Austin scored just once.
Austin’s Luke Dietsch carries the puck into the Janesville zone during the second period Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
It was a familiar sight for Austin (9-4-6 overall) as the Bruins have played in three OTs and four shootouts already this season and they’ve won just one of those contests.
“We’re in these close games,” Austin head coach Chris Tok said. “Once we figure things out and start doing things the right way I think we’ll end up on the positive side of these games more than the negative side.”
The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Ian Scheid and they held that lead going into the third period, but they came up empty on two power plays to start the third period that could’ve given them a two-goal lead.
Eventually Janesville (13-5-1 overall), which is in first place in the North Division, scored a pair of goals in a nine-minute stretch to take a 2-1 lead before Austin tied it at 2-2 on a Zach Kennedy goal with 4:27 left in the game.
“We didn’t come out to win the game,” Tok said. “We were playing to hold on and we hate that kind of attitude. We get two power plays and there was no urgency.”
Austin was making a five-man line change as the Jets had the puck on their own blue line on one of the goals and Tok said plays like that can turn the tide of any game.
“You can’t have all five guys change at the same time. It’s just sheer stupidity, but it happened and it least we fought back to tie the game, because you can quit and a we’ve shown the propensity to do that a few times this year,” Tok said. “You could clearly see tonight that one decision can change a whole game.”
Austin goalie Zach Driscoll had 26 saves in the loss and he made a glove save on a penalty shot in overtime to force the shootout.
SCORING SUMMARY
Janseville 0 0 2 0 1 — 3
Austin 0 1 1 0 0 — 2
First period
(A) Ian Sheid 16:50
Second period
No scoring
Third period
(J) Brandon Schultz (Zach Lavalle) 5:02
(J) Drew Callin (Zach Yoder) 14:10
(A) Zach Kennedy (Hugo Gallet) 15:33
Power plays; Austin — 0-for-5; Janesville — 0-for-3
Shots: Austin – 29; Janesville — 29