Friday Finals: Jr. Blues improve playoff chances with win
Johnstown Tomahawks 4 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 5 – Trevor Stone and Ross Olsson each had three points to lead the Jr. Blues to a 5-4 win over Johnstown in a back and forth affair. The Jr, Blues jumped out to a 3-0 lead only to see Johnstown answer with three straight. The Jr. Blues got two goals from Stone and others from Olsson, Logan Wendling and the game-winner from Michael Mylchreest. Tomahawks goals came from Cody Bentzel, Brandon Reinholz, Tanner Barnes and Dakoda Menslage. Boxscore
Janesville Jets 1 @ Michigan Warriors 4 – Three goals in the final nine minutes of the game, including two shorthanded empty-net goals, helped the Michigan Warriors to a 4-1 home win over Janesville. The teams were tied at 1-1 after two periods after AJ Marcinek scored for Michigan and Tyler Rehm scored for Jets. Tyler Groat, Josh Shellman and Jake Hopfner scored 3rd period goals for the Warriors. Michigan goalie Robbie Beydoun made 33 saves in the win. Boxscore
Coulee Region Chill 4 @ Minnesota Wilderness 3 – The Chill moved into 2nd place in the Midwest Division with a 4-3 win thanks to two, 3rd period goals from James McGing. Other Coulee Region goals came from Blake Kelley and Mac Jansen in the 1st period. Wilderness goals came from Erik Brenk in the 1st period, Jaycob McCombs in the 2nd period and Nolan Culver in the 3rd period. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 2 @ Amarillo Bulls 4 – Four 2nd period goals propelled the Bulls to a 4-2 home win over the Killer Bees on Friday night. Ian Janco gave Rio Grande Valley a 1-0 lead in the 1st period. However, Amarillo turned on the gas in the 2nd period with two goals from Mike Davis and two from Tyler Gernhofer. Davis also assisted on both Gernhofer goals. Evan Schmidbauer scored a 3rd period goal for the Killer Bees, but it would not be enough. Boxscore
Minot Minotauros 2 @ Austin Bruins 4 – Four different players scored as Austin doubled up Minot on Friday night. The Bruins led 1-0 on a 1st period goal from Easton Viitala. After Tyler Shipstad evened the score, Sam Kauppila gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Beau Ricketts tied the game at 2-2 early in the 3rd period for Minot, but goals from Trey Dodd and Jay Dickman in the 3rd period gave the Bruins the win. Boxscore
Corpus Christi IceRays 0 @ Lone Star Brahmas 3 – Goalie TJ Black stopped all 22 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season as Lone Star blanked the IceRays, 3-0. All three Brahmas goals came in the 2nd period from Michael Crowley, Conner Enciso and Alexey Solovyev. Ice Rays goaltender Forbes Ploszaj made 26 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Aberdeen Wings 4 @ Bismarck Bobcats 3 (SO) – The Wings continued their recent success in Bismarck and moved into a 2nd place tie with the Bobcats thanks to a 4-3 shootout win. Aberdeen had to come from behind down 3-1. Goals came from TJ Roo, Erik Baskin and Kyle Haak, who tied the game with :45 seconds remaining. Tanner Okeson had the shootout winner. Bismarck goals came from Jacob McDowell, Huba Sekesi and Cullen Willox. Boxscore
Wenatchee Wild 1 @ Kenai River Brown Bears 2 – The Wild could once again not solve goaltender Zach Quinn as the Brown Bears netminder made 42 saves in a 2-1 win. After a scoreless 1st period, the Brown Bears took a 1-0 lead midway through the game with a goal from Nathan Colwell. Wenatchee tied things up just over a minute later with a goal from Troy Loggins. Albin Karlsson scored the game-winner early in he 3rd period while on the power play. Boxscore
Minnesota Magicians 5 @ Fairbanks Ice Dogs 6 – The Ice Dogs jumped out to a 6-0 lead and withstood a furious comeback from the Magicians as they took their second straight game against their Midwest opponent by a 6-5 score. Fairbanks led 6-0 midway through the game on two goals apiece from Viktor Liljegren and Duggie Lagrone. Brett Gervais and Lonnie Clary also scored. The Magicians came back with five straight goals including two from Will Johnson and others from Cody Milligan, Colin Hernon and Matt Colford. Boxscore