Friday Finals: Bruins close gap in Central with convincing win
Chad Veltri posted his second consecutive shutout as Corpus Christi blanked Topeka on Friday night, 4-0.
Aberdeen 1 @ Austin 5 - A dominant performance by the Austin Bruins has them within two points of first place in the Central Division. The Bruins took down first place Aberdeen by a score of 5-1 as Dante Sheriff scored two goals and added an assist. Seth Bacon, Jaden Shields and Travis Kothenbeutel all found the back of the net as well in the win. Alex Schilling made 30 saves to pick up another victory. John Sladic scored the only goal for the Wings.
Northeast 2 @ Philadelphia 3 - The Philadelphia Rebels outlasted the Northeast Generals by a score of 3-2, and in the process became the first team from East Division to clinch a spot in the 2018 Robertson Cup Playoffs. Brandon Stanley scored a goal and had an assist to lead all skaters. Kolby Vegara and Jimmy Glynn also found the back of the net in the victory. Eli Billing only had to make 13 saves to pick up his 11th win of the season. Mike Egan and Matt Demelis scored the goals for the Generals. David Fessenden got the loss despite making 32 saves.
Topeka 0 @ Corpus Christi 4 - Chad Veltri stopped all 19 shots that were thrown his was as the IceRays knocked off the Topeka RoadRunners 4-0. Brendan Miller, Pavel Koreshov, Grayson Gavin and Matt Acciaioli all lit the lamp for Corpus Christi. Rylee St. Once and Blake Coffey each had a pair of assists as well. Emil Granose made 27 for Topeka.
Springfield 3 @ Coulee Region 4 - Jackson Decker scored just before the buzzer to give the Coulee Region Chill a dramatic victory over the Springfield Jr. Blues. Nick Bowman netted a hat trick for Coulee while Brandon Koch had three assists and Andrew McGlynn had two of his own. Fabio Hollenstein, Max Branin and Ethan Stewart all scored for the Jr. Blues in the loss. Emil Zetterquist earned the win in between the pipes as he made 31 saves.
Lone Star 2 @ Amarillo 3 (OT) - NIkita Sokolov’s goal in overtime pushed the Amarillo Bulls into the win column against the Lone Star Brahmas. Austin O’Rourke scored in his first game against his former squad. Stephen Rex was also able to find the back of the net. Jason Grande got his 14 win of the year. Ture Linden and Justin Addamo got on the scoresheet for Lone Star while Mitchell Gibson made 25 saves.
Brookings 4 @ MN Wilderness 5 (SO) - The Minnesota Wilderness trailed 4-1 with just over 10 minutes to play and they came all the way back to pickup the win in a shootout. Ryan Fanti made 11 saves in relief and two of three shootouts in the shootout to grab the win. Nathan Horn, Josh Fricks, Alex Spencer and Alex Truscott propelled the comeback. Josh Boyer netted three points for the Blizzard whole Connor Koviak and Vince Marino had a goal and an assist.
Odessa 0 @ Shreveport 3 - The Mudbugs continue their hot play at home as they defeat the Odessa Jackalopes 3-0. Gustavs Grigals made 20 saves to earn his second shutout of the season. Andrew Lane had a goal and an assist. Jack Clement and Cameron Cook found the back of the net as well. Brett Epp made 28 saves on 30 shots.
Janesville 0 @ MN Magicians 1 - Carter Breitenfeldt scored the only goal of the game as the Magicians edged the Jets 1-0. Isaiah Saville picked up a shutout by stopping all 26 shots that the Jets through his way. Garrett Nieto made 20 saves in the loss for the Jets.
Minot 3 @ Bismarck 5 - The Bismarck Bobcats extended their lead for the final playoff spot in the Central Division as they knocked off the Minot Minotauros. Andrew Bellant led all skaters with three points, one goal and two assists. Simon Morberg was able to pot a pair of goals for the Bobcats as well. Joseph Mancuso and Alex Trombley also scored for Bismarck. John Roberts made 32 saves to earn his eighth win of the season. Grant Loven, Miroslav Mucha and Ondrej Pavel scored for Minot in the loss.
Johnstown 2 @ Kenai River 3 – Gil Garcia had two goals, his 19th and 20th goals of the season, as the Brown Bears never trailed in a close 3-2 home win over the visiting Tomahawks. Garcia opened the scoring with the only goal of the 1st period. Johnstown answered back in the 2nd period with a goal from Samuel Solensky, but the Brown Bears regained their one-goal edge later in the period with a power play tally from Sacha Guillemain. Early in the 3rd period, Joe Kile tied the game at 2-2 with a goal for the Tomahawks, but Garcia netted the game-winner with just under three minutes remaining with a power play goal. Kevin Lake made 33 saves in the win, while Jack Leavy made 37 saves in the loss.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 @ Fairbanks 5 – There was no slowing down the Ice Dogs on Friday as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back in a 5-2 win, which was their 20th straight victory. The Ice Dogs scored the first four goals, which included 1st period goals from Grant Ledford, Samuel Ruffin, and Hunter Wendt. A power play goal early in the 2nd period from Robert Bluger made it 4-0. The Knights were able to get on the board later in the 2nd period with goals from Curtis Carlson and Blake Kryska to make it 4-2, but the second goal of the game from Ruffin in the 3rd period secured the 5-2 win. Josh Benson made 21 saves in the win, while Christian Stoever made 26 saves in the loss.
