Friday Finals: Shuffle in the Central and South continues
Odessa 3 @ Corpus Christi 1 – Jon Flakne made 34 saves to help the Jackalopes to a 3-1 road win in Corpus Christi to move the Jack back into a tie for the 4th and final playoff spot in the South. The Jacks were bolstered by two, 1st period goals from Noah Poindexter and Jon Russell. After a scoreless 2nd period, the IceRays made it interesting by cutting the Jacks lead to 2-1 with a power play goal from Brendan Miller. However, Flakne held the fort the rest of the way and Derek Brown added an empty-net goal to secure the win. Dryden McKay played well in the loss, allowing two goals on 43 shots faced. Boxscore
Austin 2 @ Aberdeen 4 – The Wings moved back into sole possession of 4th place in the Central Division thanks to a 4-2 home win over the Bruins. Jake Leitner scored twice in the Wings win, which included the first goal of the game early in the 1st period. Carter Roo added a power play goal early in the 2nd period to make the score 2-0. The Bruins scored back-to-back goals from Jade Miller and Dalton Gally to tie the game at 2-2 in the 2nd period. Matt Pulver answered back for the Wings on the power play to make the score 3-2 after two periods. Leitner added his second goal of the game late in the 3rd period on an empty-net. Wings goalie Peter Thome made 35 saves in the win, while Kris Carlson made 42 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Brookings 0 @ Bismarck 4 – Hunter Shepard stopped all 23 shots that came his way for his league-leading 8th shutout of the season as the Bobcats moved back into a tie for 1st place in the Central Division with a 4-0 win over the Blizzard. The Bobcats got on the board midway through the 1st period thanks to a power play goal from Alex Strand. The lead swelled to 3-0 in the 2nd period as Aaron Herdt and Oskars Batna scored less than a minute apart from one another. Jared Pike added a 3rd period goal to make the final 4-0. Josh Kuehmichel made 20 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Johnstown 4 @ Aston 0 – Andrew Lindgren stopped all 32 shots that came his way for his 2nd shutout of the season as the Tomahawks picked up a big 4-0 road win in Aston. Johnstown got on the board midway through the 1st period with the eventual game-winning goal from Zak Galambos. The Tomhawks added two more in the 2nd period including late goals from Kelly O’Brien and Ryan Burr. Luke Lynch added a 3rd period goal to complete the scoring for the Tomahawks. Andrew Romano picked up two assists in the Tomahawks win. Darion Hanson suffered the loss making 13 saves. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 1 @ Coulee Region 2 (OT) – The Chill picked up a weekend sweep of the Wilderness thanks to some overtime heroics and 23 saves from Hunter Vorva in a 2-1 overtime win. The Wilderness got on the board first early in the 1st period as Ryan Bloom lit the lamp. The Chill wouldn’t tie the game until midway through the 3rd period as Caleb Schroer scored. Early in the overtime Dominik Florian ended the game on the power play, as he one-timed a shot from the high slot that beat Wilderness goalie Chase Munroe. Munroe finished with 33 saves in the overtime loss. Boxscore
Springfield 3 @ Janesville 2 – Tommy Nappier made 30 saves to lead the Jr. Blues to a 3-2 win in Janesville and keep alive Springfield’s playoff position in the 4th and final spot. Each team scored once in the 1st period with Taylor Fernandez scored for Janesville and Brady Tomlak answered back for the Jr. Blues. The Jr. Blues would take the lead midway through the 2nd period, only to see the Jets tie the game with a goal from Jack Gates. Late in the 3rd period, Josh Bell would net the eventual game-winner. Jets goalie Blake Weyrick made 18 saves in the loss. Boxscore
New Jersey 1 @ Fairbanks 5 – Five different players scored as and Ryner Gorowsky had three assists as the Ice Dogs picked up a 5-1 win at home over the Titans. Reggie Lutz got the scoring going in the 1st period with a shorthanded goal. The lead swelled to 3-0 as Fairbanks got goals from Josef Ingman and Logan Coomes early in the 2nd period. The Titans would get on the board later in the 2nd period with their lone goal from Adam Hascic. Fairbanks would add to the lead thanks to another goal late in the 2nd period from Alex Mehnert and a 3rd period tally from Cameron Cook. Ice Dogs goalie Gavin Nieto made 25 saves in the win. Boxscore
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4 @ Kenai River 3 (OT) – The Knights fought off a furious comeback attempt from the Brown Bears to pick up a 4-3 overtime win on Friday. It was all Knights through the first half of the game as Tanner Bennett scored a short-handed goal in the 1st period and Blake Busch and Carson Knop added 2nd period goals to put the Knights ahead 3-0. The Brown Bears stormed back with three straight goals to tie the game as Thomas Bowe scored in the 2nd period and Collin Appleton and Evan Butcher added 3rd period goals. In the overtime, a loose puck came out to Zach Remers, who blasted home a slap shot from the high slot. Knights goalie Grant Valentine made 34 saves in the win, while Nick Nast made 30 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 4 @ Amarillo 3 – Three, 3rd period goals led the Brahmas to a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Amarillo on Friday. Lone Star jumped ahead 1-0 on a goal from Tyler Drevitch. The Bulls would take a 2-1 lead on goals from Coale Norris and Charlie Singerhouse. Lone Star would tie the game early in the 3rd period on a strike from Brandon Estes, but the Bulls would regain the lead with another goal from Norris. The Brahmas then scored twice in just over a two minute span to come away with a 4-3 win as Alex Berardinelli and Sean Giles scored. Conor O’Brien made 26 saves in the win, while Brian Baker made 33 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Topeka 3 @ Wichita Falls 4 – The Wildcats moved closer to the South title as they survived a comeback attempt by the RoadRunners to pick up a 4-3 win. It was all Wildcats in the first half of the game as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Nick Rosa, Adam Goodsir and Erich Jaeger. The RoadRunners stormed back to tie the game at 3-3 thanks to 2nd period goals from Sami Tavernier and Dominic Lutz and a 3rd period shorthanded goal from Luka Maver. The game-winner came with just under six minutes remaining in regulation as Austin Albrecht scored on the power play. Justin Kapelmaster made 30 saves in the win, while Juho Niku made 32 saves in the loss. Boxscore
