New Year's Eve Finals: Wings post shutout
Brookings 0 @ Aberdeen 1 – Chad Catt made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Wings edged the Blizzard on Wednesday night in Aberdeen, 1-0 in front of over 1,500 fans. It wasn’t until early in the 3rd period that someone finally scored as Drew Doyon lit the lamp for the Wings with assists to Collin Hughes and Matt Pulver. Blizzard goalie Ryan Kubic played well in the loss, allowing just a single goal on 29 shots. Boxscore
MN Magicians 1 @ MN Wilderness 5 – Ryan Anderson made 16 saves and five different players scored as the Wilderness moved back into 1st place in the Midwest Division with a 5-1 home win over the Magicians. Billy Exell started the scoring in the 1st period. Brett Gravelle then scored his first career NAHL goal in the 2nd period to make it 2-0. The Magicians got their lone goal from Sam Becker to make it 2-1 after two periods. The Wilderness blew the game open in the 3rd period with three goals including a power play goal from Aaron Miller, a shorthanded goal from Dan Litchke and a goal from defenseman Ivan Chukarov. Boxscore
Kenai River 2 @ Keystone 3 (SO) – The Ice Miners continued to climb the standings thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Brown Bears. Keystone goalie Alex Blankenburg made 30 saves in the win and stopped three of five shooters in the shootout. Keystone took a 1-0 lead on an early goal from Austin Romzek. Kenai River tied the game in the 3rd period with a goal from Ben Campbell. After Brendan Jaquay put the Miners ahead by one again, Cameron Cook tied things again. Jacob Coleman had the shootout-winning goal. Brown Bears goalie Evan Hauser made 24 saves in his season debut. Boxscore
Michigan 1 @ Janesville 4 – The Jets continued to roll with their ninth straight win with a 4-1 win and mid-week home sweep of the Warriors. It was all Janesville the first two periods as Nils Rygaard scored in the 1st period and Adam Roeder and Aleksi Ainail added 2nd period goals to put the Jets ahead 3-0. Alex Berardinelli scored the lone Michigan goal late in the 3rd period, but not before Evan Feno would add an empty-net goal to make the final 4-1. Blake Weyrick made 20 saves to win his first NAHL start. Boxscore
Fairbanks 1 @ Johnstown 3 – Ryan Bednard made 29 saves as the Tomahawks picked up a split of their series with the Ice Dogs thanks to a 3-1 win on Wednesday night in front of 3,250 fans in Johnstown. After a scoreless 1st period, Luke Lynch opened the scoring in the 2nd period for Johnstown. Ethan Somoza tied the game for Fairbanks early in the 3rd period, but that was answered by the eventual game-winning goal from Trevor Recktenwald. Cam Bleck added an empty-net goal. Kevin Aldridge made 28 saves in his return to the Ice Dogs line-up. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 3 @ Amarillo 6 – The Bulls scored three times in the 3rd period as they handed the Wildcats their third straight loss, staying hot with a 6-3 win. The Bulls jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 1st period on goals from Nick Le Sage, Will Harrison and AJ Duggan. Harrison added another goal in the 3rd period, as did Luke Novak and Joe Leonidas. The Wildcats got a goal in the 1st period from Nick Farmer and 3rd period tallies from Austin Beaulieu and Kevin Charyszyn. Bulls goalie Jacob Weatherly was solid in the win, making 43 saves. Boxscore
Coulee Region 4 @ Austin 1 – The Chill stayed hot and continued to keep pace with the Midwest Division leaders thanks to a 4-1 win in Austin on Wednesday night. Chill goalie Adam Carlson continued his hot play with 22 saves in the win. Dawson DiPietro scored once in the 1st period and again in the 2nd period to put the Chill ahead 2-0 after two periods. Luke Forfar scored the lone goal for the Bruins, which came early in the 3rd period. The Chill put the game away with two goals later in the 3rd period, both from Aussie Miller. Boxscore
Minot 4 @ Bismarck 1 – In front of a packed house in Bismarck, the 1st place Minotauros widened their division lead thanks to a 4-1 road win over the Bobcats. Atte Tolvanen was the star in the win for Minot, as he made 33 saves. Nick Monfils had three points for the Minotauros, which included the game’s first goal early in the 1st period. Jon Lizotte also scored in the 1st period, putting Minot ahead 2-0. The lead swelled to 3-0 in the 2nd period with a goal from Blake Lizotte. Alex Strand scored the lone Bobcats goal late in the 3rd period, but one final goal from James Mathias secured the 4-1 win for Minot. Boxscore
