Bruins ring in the new year with a big win
Published 8:50 am Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Austin’s Jay Dickman, points to the crowd after putting the Bruins up 3-1 in the second period with a power play goal Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin Bruins had to shut down a late flurry from the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, but they prevailed in a 4-3 win at Riverside Arena on New Year’s Eve Tuesday.
Austin’s Austin Nelson fires a wrist-shot past Fairbanks’ Ben Campbell during the second period Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Fairbanks (23-10 overall) fired off 14 shots in the third period and it scored two goals, but it couldn’t get the equalizer. Luke Dietsch scored an insurance goal for the Bruins that put them up 4-2 with 9:34 left in the game.
“I thought it was a very well played hockey game. I really liked the way our guys kept battling,” Bruins head coach Chris Tok said. “They were one of the hottest teams in the league coming in.”
Austin jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Austin Nelson and Sam Kauppila and Jay Dickman made it a 3-1 lead in the second when he crashed the net and score a goal.
Dickman leads Austin with 36 points in 32 games this season.
“They’re a real good team,” said Dickman, who added two assists in the win. “They’re fast just like us. We’ve got to drive to the net hard and that’s where our success was tonight. We’ve just got to keep playing our game.”
The Bruins (21-10-1 overall) are now 14-1 at home, but they’ll have to learn to play better on the road if they want to win their second straight NAHL Central Division title. Bismarck and Aberdeen are both right on the Bruins’ heels and no team is likely to cruise to a division title this year.
“The energy in the building tonight was fantastic right up to the introductions. That really helped get our guys up to a fast start,” Tok said. “Bismarck’s good and Aberdeen’s good. We’ve got to keep playing our style of hockey and we’ve got to make sure we play good on the road.”
Austin’s Guillaume Leclerc gets tangled with Fairbanks’ Todd Burgess along the boards during the second period Tuesday night at Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Nick Lehr had 25 saves for the Bruins.
SCORING SUMMARY
Fairbanks 0 1 2 — 3
Austin 2 1 1 — 4
First period
(A) Austin Nelson (power play) (Jay Dickman, Cory Dunn) 5:57
(A) Sam Kauppila (Drew Anderson, Luke Dietsch) 8:21
Second period
(F) Hans Gorowsky (Tayler Munson) 11:29
(A) Dickman (Nick Lehr) 19:51
Third period
(F) Colton Wolter (Lonnie Clark, Kyle Lee) 3:32
(A) Luke Dietsch (Dickman, Eli May) 10:26
(F) Jacob Hetz (Willie Brooks) 17:26
Powerplays: Austin — 26; Fairbanks — 28
Shots: Austin — 1-for-4; Fairbanks — 0-for-3
