Friday Finals: Minotauros on brink of playoff spot after win
Bismarck Bobcats 2 @ Minot Minotauros 3 (SO) – Brandon Wildung made 33 saves and stopped six of seven shooters in the shootout as the Minotauros edged closer to a playoff spot with a 3-2 win over Bismarck. Jake McCann and Tyler Shipstad had the goals in regulation for Minot, while Tyler Dunagan and Huba Sekesi scored for the Bobcats. Minot’s 7th shooter in the shootout, Tim Donohue scored the difference maker in the extra session. Boxscore
Michigan Warriors 3 @ Janesville Jets 6 – The Jets moved into a 3rd place tie with the Johnstown Tomahawks as they doubled up the Warriors, 6-3. Alex Smith had the big night for the Jets scoring two goals. Michigan led 3-2, but the Jets scored the final four goals of the contest. Robin Hoglund, Brandon Schultz, Jordan Himley and Zach Avolio had the other Jets goals, while Zack Szajner, Josh Shellman and Colin Horton scored for Michigan. Boxscore
Coulee Region Chill 1 @ Minnesota Wilderness 3 – Frank Oplinger got the start in goal and made it count with 23 saves as the Wilderness defeated the Chill, 3-1. Adam Carlson also played well in goal for the Chill, making 36 saves. Alex Fredberg opened the scoring for Minnesota, but that was quickly answered by a goal from the Chill’s Jesse Tredinnick. Jaycob McCombs added a goal quickly thereafter to make it 2-1 and Dan Litchke added an empty-net goal. Boxscore
Kenai River Brown Bears 1 @ Wichita Falls Wildcats 3 – Chase Munroe made 30 saves to help the Wildcats to a 3-1 home win over Kenai River. Wichita Falls led 2-0 after a 1st period goal from Rudy Junda and a 2nd period tally from Josh Haverstrom. Alec Butcher scored midway through the 2nd period to draw the Brown Bears to within one goal, but Tyler Ledford’s goal less than two minutes later secured the win for Wichita Falls. Boxscore
Johnstown Tomahawks 2 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 3 (SO) – The Jr. Blues kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 shootout win at home. The Jr. Blues took the lead on a goal from Igor Vladykovskii. The Tomahawks answered on a goal from Casey Linkenheld. Lester Lancaster gave the Jr. Blues the lead back, which lasted until late in the 3rd period when Shane Bednard tied the game on the power play. In the shootout, Trevor Stone ended up with the game-winner as the 6th shooter for Springfield. Boxscore
Minnesota Magicians 3 @ Austin Bruins 5 – The Bruins held onto their three-point lead in the Central thanks to a 5-3 win over the visiting Magicians. Jay Dickman scored twice for the Bruins in the win. Minnesota had a 2-1 lead on goals from Matt Colford and Mario Bianchi. Colford would score again, but it would not be enough for Minnesota as the Bruins got goals from Josh Bretner, Luke Dietsch and Guillaume Leclerc. Boxscore
Brookings Blizzard 2 @ Aberdeen Wings 4 – The Wings kept pace with the Bruins as the doubled up the Blizzard, 4-2 and dealt the Blizzard a big blow to their playoff hopes. Things looked good early for Brookings, who led 1-0 on a goal from Jared Goudreau, but Aberdeen would scored the next four as Austin Swingle and Jordan Heller scored in the 2nd period and TJ Roo and Jonathan Grebosky added 3rd period goals. Conrad Sampair scored the other Blizzard goal late in the contest. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 7 @ Odessa Jackalopes 1 – Ben Greiner had a four-point night and Aleksi Luhtalampi scored twice as the Killer Bees beat the Jacks. It was all Bees from the start as Greiner scored the opening goal and Evan Schmidbauer, Dan Kucerovy and Marcus Ericsson scored to make it 4-0. After Odessa got its lone marker from Chad Guderian, Brenden Dunning scored to make it 5-1 and Luhtalampi added two more goals in the 3rd period. Olli Kalkaja made 17 saves in the win. Boxscore
Amarillo Bulls 2 @ Lone Star Brahmas 3 (SO) – The Brahmas won in dramatic fashion as they tied the game late in the 3rd period and rode 38 saves from goalie TJ Black to a 3-2 win over the 1st place Bulls. Amarillo scored both their goals in the 2nd period as Brady Ferguson and Joe Grabowski scored. Thomas Aldworth had the lone Brahmas goal to make it 2-1. Late in the 3rd period, Kellen Wasell scored the equalizer with just :05 seconds remaining to send the game to a shootout, where Black stopped all four Bulls shooters and Matt Lison and Aldworth scored for Lone Star. Boxscore
