Sheriff lays down the law on Paint the Rink Pink Night
Published 9:26 am Sunday, February 3, 2019
- Austin’s Dante Sheriff, center, celebrates his game-winning overtime goal against Minnesota Magicians Saturday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Dante Sheriff has made a lot of plays in his two years with the Bruins. On Saturday, he made one that he’s likely to never forget.
Sheriff gave the Bruins a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Magicians when he scored a breakaway overtime goal in front of a packed house on Paint the Pink Rink Night in Riverside Arena.
Austin’s Dante Sheriff nears the goal during the second period against the Minnesota Magicians Saturday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Sheriff was able to turn defense into offense when he made a deflection, skated down and beat Magician goalie Dysen Skinner one-on-one to seal the win.
“I kind of just blocked the shot and then I chipped it ahead,” Sheriff said. “I saw a guy standing flat flooted and I just went down and luckily it went in the net. I heard just about everyone in the stands start yelling and I knew I had to score this for the fans.”
Sheriff, who is in his second season with the Bruins, is now eighth in the NAHL in scoring with 47 points in 40 games.
Austin’s Levi Stauber flips a shot toward the net against the Minnesota Magicians Saturday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Sheriff’s goal capped a wild night that saw 16 total penalties in the second period. Austin tied the game at 4-4 when Jared Christy, who was recently acquired from Odessa, Texas, scored his second goal of the night with 5:55 left in the third period. Kyle McClellan also stepped up for Austin as he came off the bench and stopped all eight shots he saw in the third period and overtime.
“We knew tonight we had to put on a show for the town of Austin,” said Austin defenseman Lane Krezen, who had two assists. “We have a lot of confident players and we have a lot of guys who know how to make plays. We haven’t had the best of luck in overtime this year, but it finally went in our favor. When we heard the crowd chanting ‘let’s go Bruins’ when we were down by a goal in the third period, we knew we had to win it for this town.”
Austin’s Garrett Dahm reaches for the puck in the second period Saturday night against Minnesota Magicians in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The win capped a big weekend for the Bruins as Austin (23-13-0-5 overall) picked up back-to-back wins over the Magicians (27-11-2 overall), who are in first place in the Midwest Division.
After trading Joe Winkelmann to the Odessa Jackolopes for Christy, who has 43 points this season, and Kyle Herbster, who has 40 points this season, the Bruins are already starting to see the benefits of having two hungry veterans who came from a team that is in last place in the South Division to a Bruins team that is in second place in the Central Division.
“We brought in some scoring from Odessa and even without them putting up points that helped,” Krenzen said. “They’ve helped with scoring, but our guys saw two 98s come in and work (butts) off in their last year of junior hockey. All of our younger guys and veterans followed suite.”
Austin’s Connor Mylymok fires a shot against the MInnesota Magicians in the second period Saturday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
SCORING SUMMARY
Magicians 2 2 0 0 – 4
Bruins 2 1 1 1 – 5
First period
(A) Hugh Larkin (Dante Sheriff, Terry Ryder) 5:08
(M) Moritz Wirth (Jake Seitz) 10:42
(M) Cameron Buhl (John Keranen, Andrew Kruse) (power play) 16:45
(A) Larkin (Garrett Dahm, Sheriff) 19:30
Second period
(A) Jared Christy (Krenzen, Kyle Herbster) (power play) 1:19
(M) Parker Larson (John Keranen, Nick Lanigan) 6:16
(M) Chris Konin (TJ Sagissor) (power play) 8:20
Third period
(A) Christy (Krenzen) 14:55
OT
(A) Sheriff (Dahm, Josef Mysak) 3:34
Shots: Austin – 37; Magicians – 21
Power plays: Austin – 1-for-4; Magicians – 2-for-5
