Friday Finals: Odessa responds with win
Wichita Falls Wildcats 1 @ Odessa Jackalopes 5 – With their coach let go earlier in the day, the Odessa Jackalopes rallied for a 5-1 win at home over the Wichita Falls Wildcats on Friday. The Wildcats found the back of the net first, and did so after a persistent forecheck on a goal from Kyle Bauman. Odessa responded as the first frame wound to a close however, as Razmuz Waxin-Engback buried a centering feed from Chris Taff to make it 1-1 at 18:24 of the period. Odessa who took a lead into the locker room after two periods, as Leo Lumm tucked a soft shot inside the right post to make it 2-1. Odessa pulled away in the 3rd period with three goals in the span of three minutes. First, Connor Thie cleaned up a backdoor feed from Matt Beranek to double the Odessa advantage. Next, Alex Alger finished off a breakaway to make it 4-1, before Derek Brown finished off the scoring in the contest. Boxscore
Springfield Jr. Blues 0 @ Janesville Jets 2 – Logan Halladay recorded his first NAHL shutout by making 30 saves to help the Janesville Jets move into a tie for the 4th and final playoff spot in the North Division thanks to a 2-0 home win over the Jr. Blues. After the game was scoreless through the first two periods, Jordan Himley provided all the offense for the Jets by scoring both goals in a six minute span late in the 3rd period. Springfield goalie Stefanos Lekkas made 25 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Johnstown Tomahawks 1 @ Michigan Warriors 3 - The Johnstown Tomahawks got on the board first, but the Michigan Warriors scored three unanswered goals to earn the 3-1 victory on Friday night in Flint, Mich. With the win, the Warriors moved two points ahead of the Tomahawks for second place in the NAHL North Division.Tanner Barnes got the Tomahawks on the board, scoring his eighth goal of the season at 7:33 of the first period. The Warriors tied the game late in the first, as TJ Stuntz scored with :13 seconds remaining. The Warriors took the lead late in the second period, as A.J. Marcinek scored at 17:41. Nick Mosher set the final score with a goal 3:34 into the third period. Robbie Beydoun earned the win, stopping 24 of 25 shots. Alex Okicki took the loss, allowing three goals on 32 shots. Boxscore
Port Huron Fighting Falcons 3 @ Soo Eagles 4 – The Eagles gave their playoff chances a shot in the arm thanks to two 3rd period goals and a 4-3 home win over the 1st place Fighting Falcons. Port Huron led 2-0 early on goals from Zach Badalamenti and Vito Aluia. However, the Eagles responded with four straight goals including two from Nick Belger and others from Brad Pung and Derek Lodermeier. After a goal from Nick Le Sage made it 4-3, Eagles goalie Paige Skoog made the lead stand making 42 saves. Boxscore
Fairbanks Ice Dogs 4 @ Coulee Region Chill 2 – Tayler Munson scored two goals to put the Ice Dogs out to a 2-0 lead and they never looked back in a 4-2 road win in Coulee Region. Munson scored twice in the game’s opening seven minutes. The Chill would answer on a goal from Gordon Wells to make it 2-1 after two periods. Todd Burgess and Kyle Lee added 3rd period goals for the Ice Dogs, while Adam Lovick scored the other goal for the Chill. Boxscore
Brookings Blizzard 3 @ Minnesota Wilderness 2 (OT) – Evan Hesse scored just over three minutes into overtime to give the Brookings Blizzard a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win on the road on Friday. Minnesota led 2-0 early in the game on goals from Jaycob McCombs and Darian Romanko. Brookings responded with goals from Wyatt Schmidt and Ryan Sete to tie the game, setting up Hesse’s overtime-winner. Connor Girard made 27 saves in the win that put Brookings just four points out of a playoff spot. Boxscore
Aberdeen Wings 5 @ Bismarck Bobcats 1 - Aberdeen goaltender Henry Dill stopped 41 shots, as the Wings beat Bismarck 5-1 on Friday. Bismarck was caught by Aberdeen for second place in the NAHL Central Division. Bjorn Sigurdarson scored twice for Aberdeen with the man-advantage. His goal at 5:19 of the first gave Aberdeen their first lead of the night. Tony German equalized the game with the only Bobcats goal. Sigurdarson scored again on the power play at 6:54 of the second, then Jonathan Grebosky smacked a belt-high puck out of the air past Aaron Nelson at 9:02, giving the Wings a 3-1 lead they would take to the second.
Minot Minotauros 0 @ Austin Bruins 2 – Nick Lehr stopped all 30 shots that came his way as the Austin Bruins increased their Central Division lead to five points thanks to a 2-0 shutout win on Friday. The shutout was Lehr’s 6th of the season. All of the Bruins scoring came in the 1st period on goals from Lucas Kohls and Guillaume Leclerc. Leclerc ended up with a goal and an assist in the game. Brandon Wildung played well in the loss making 32 saves. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 0 @ Topeka RoadRunners 8 – Goalie PJ Bridges posted his league-leading 9th shutout of the season setting a new single-season franchise record in the process as Topeka blanked Rio Grande Valley, 8-0. Yu Hikosaka and Jake Kamrass each scored twice and Tyler Poulsen had five points in the win. Topeka led 3-0 after one period on a goal from Zach Glienke, Hikosaka and Kamrass. Kamrass and Hikosaka scored again in the 2nd period along with goals from Daniel Rzavsky and Tomas Nechala. Poulsen added the only goal in the 3rd period. Boxscore
Corpus Christi IceRays 4 @ Lone Star Brahmas 2 – The IceRays scored three times in the final three minutes of the game to pull out a come-from-behind 4-2 win at Lone Star. The teams were even after one period after Kellen Wasell scored for Lone Star and Wes Michaud scored for the IceRays. Lone Star took a 2-1 lead on a power play goal from Sebastian Vidmar in the 2nd period. Connor Kelly scored back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart late in the 3rd period to put the IceRays ahead and Lucas Bennett added an empty-net goal. Boxscore
