Saturday Scores: Wild advance, Austin and Minot take control

April 5, 2015

The Wenatchee Wild jumped out to a lead and held off a late furious IceRays rally to win Game 2 of their South play-in series, 3-2 and sweep the series 2-0. Wenatchee now advances to the South Division Semi-Finals to face the #1 Lone Star Brahmas. Games 1 and 2 will be in Lone Star on April 10th and 11th. It didn’t take long for Wenatchee to grab the lead as just five minutes in, Wild forward Colin Burston took advantage of a loose rebound off to the right side of the IceRays net to jab home the game’s first goal and a 1-0 Wild lead. Momentum continued for the Wild as the period wore on, and at 13:18 another second-chance play worked its way into the IceRays net, this time off of forward Mike Coyne to double the Wenatchee lead, 2-0. The second frame was controlled almost entirely by the Wild. The road side put up 20 shots in the frame and held possession for most of that frame. Strength brewed for the IceRays to kick off the third period, but at 12:38 Wild forward August Von Ungern-Sternberg flipped a shot from the left circle that tripled the Wenatchee lead, 3-0. With their season on the line and a power play, the IceRays pulled netminder Andrew Lindgren to cause a six-on-four advantage and the start of a comeback. At 17:36, IceRays defenseman Anthony Cortese blasted a shot from the right point that found forward Tanner Lomsnes down low for the quick goal to get on the board, 3-1. Less than a minute later at 18:50, Cortese took a shot from the same position that found a wayward stick of forward Connor Kelly for a redirection goal and a 3-2 deficit with the netminder pulled. Despite pressing in the final moments, the IceRays couldn’t find an equalizer, falling 3-2. Wild goaltender Michael Bullion earned the win, stopping 22 of 24 shots, while Lindgren picked up the loss, saving 45 of 48 shots. Boxscore

 

Two goals in the final six minutes of regulation tipped the scales of an even Game 2 in the Central Division Semifinals as Minot beat Bismarck 4-2 at the VFW Sports Center, putting the Bobcats on the edge of elimination with a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-five game series. Through the first two periods, Bismarck had an answer for each Minot goal. Jake Howie gave the Minotauros a 1-0 lead midway through the 1st period with a nice shot over the glove of Bobcats goalie Hunter Shepard. Just over a minute later, Oskars Batna tied the game at 1-1 with a one-timer that beat Minot goalie Atte Tolvanen. Minot would again grab the lead early in the 2nd period as James Mathias wristed home a shot on the power play after a nice pass from Blake Lizotte. The Bobcats again tied things up as Evan Giesler crashed the net to put home a loose rebound making it 2-2. The difference-maker came late in the 3rd period as John Snodgrass scored a shorthanded goal and Tim Athley added an empty-netter. Tolvanen made 21 saves in the win, while Shepard made 16 saves in the loss. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday, April 10th in Minot. Boxscore

Jake Kielly got the start and stopped all 19 shots that came his way for the shutout as the Bruins took a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 4-0 win in Game 2 in Austin. The series now shifts to Game 3 in Aberdeen on Friday, April 10th. It did not take Austin long to grab the lead and the eventual game-winning goal. Just 1:38 into the game Luke Dietsch scored his second goal of the series to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.  Assists came from Tony Uglem and Liam Feeney. Later in the period, Jacob Kullberg scored his first of the playoffs to make it 2-0.  The Bruins added another goal in the 2nd period as this time JC MacLean scored to make it 3-0 with assists to Trevor Boyd and another to Feeney. Nico Sturm capped off the scoring late in the 3rd period with his third goal of the playoffs with an assist to Alex Jasiek to make the final score, 4-0. Andrew Shortridge got the start in goal for the Wings and made 26 saves in the loss. Boxscore