Friday Finals: Murphy's big night leads Hitmen over Jr. Blues

Chicago 6 @ Springfield 4 - The Chicago Hitmen scored the last five goals to rally past the Springfield Junior Blues 6-4 Friday in a North American Hockey League game at Nelson Center in Springfield.  Chicago defenseman Alex Murphy had a goal and four assists for the Hitmen, who trailed 4-1 after the Junior Blues’ Ethan Nauman scored his second goal of the night in the 2nd period.  Alec DeAngelo started the Chicago comeback with a goal at 18:30 of the second, then the Hitmen scored four times in the third period despite getting outshot 21-9.  Murphy cut the Junior Blues’ lead to 4-3 at 2:03, and Zach Mudge scored to tie it at 5:26. The Hitmen took their first lead of the game when David Gandara scored at 18:51, and Mudge made it 6-4 with his second goal, into an empty net at 19:52.  Nick Kohn made 42 saves for the Hitmen, who were outshot 46-34 for the game. Junior Blues goalie Connor Girard gave up five goals on 33 shots.  Cody Dixon and Kyle Cook scored in the second period for the Junior Blues.  Boxscore

St. Louis 2 @ Janesville 1 (SO) – Both goaltenders Spencer Viele for St. Louis and Brock Kautz were solid in a game that featured 57 combined shots and just two goals in regulation.  However goals in the shootout by Joe Kalisz, Joe Birmingham and Cody Ganchar were the difference for the Bandits in the win as they increased their Midwest Division lead to two points over the Jets. Boxscore

Michigan 4 @ Traverse City 1 – Michigan answered an early North Stars goal with four straight on their way to a much needed 4-1 win at Traverse City.  AJ White had a goal and two assists and Tyler Perpich, Chris Eckler and Brad Pizzey also scored for the Warriors.  Brach Tiller made 26 saves in the win for Michigan.  Traverse City’s lone goal came off the stick of Eric Rivard. Boxscore

Jamestown 1 @ Port Huron 2 – Max Milosek made 23 saves and Jake Goldberg scored the game-winning goal in the 3rd period with three minutes left as the 1st place Fighting Falcons increased their North Division lead to seven points with a 2-1 home win over Jamestown.  Joe Gladnick was solid in the loss for the Ironmen making 44 saves.  Ian Miller also scored for Port Huron. Boxscore

Wenatchee 4 @ Odessa 1 – All four Wenatchee goals came on the power play as the Wild won a cross-divisional match-up in Odessa.  After the opening goal from the Jackalopes Josh Obregon, the Wild answered with four straight goals from Sam Johnson, Dylan Abood, Chris Kerr and Blake Saylor.  Shawn Pauly finished with three assists for Wenatchee and Robert Nichols made 25 saves in the win. Boxscore

Wichita Falls 1 @ Topeka 5 – The RoadRunners scored four goals in the first 12 minutes of the game on their way to a 5-1 home win over the Wildcats.  Peter Traber made 24 saves in the win and Ben Bahe scored twice and added an assist for Topeka.  Other RoadRunner goals came from James Ring, Dan Dupell and Sean Gaffney, while Linus Johansson added two assists. Boxscore

Minot 3 @ Aberdeen 5 – The Wings scored three, 3rd period goals on their way to a 5-3 home win over Minot.  The Wings got two goals apiece from Cory Ward and Joe Sullivan, while Buster Hebda led the way for Minot with two goals.  Mack Ohnsted had three assists for Aberdeen and Kevin Becker also chimed in with two helpers.  Michael Zagari had the other goal for Minot.  Boxscore

Austin 2 @ Alexandria 3 (SO) – Both goalies Tyler Bruggeman for Austin and Jacob Meyers for Alexandria were the highlight of this game that featured a combined 90 shots by both teams.  Alexandria trailed late, but managed to tie the game with :09 seconds remaining on a goal by Dylan Zink.  In the shootout, all three Blizzard shooters scored, while Meyers stopped all three Bruins shooters for the win. Boxscore

Corpus Christi 3 @ Texas 2 – Beau Walker and Frank Misuraca each had a goal and an assist as the IceRays power play was a difference in a 3-2 win in Frisco against the Tornado.  Corpus Christi led 3-0 early in the 3rd period with goals from Walker, Misuraca and Matthew Weis, but Texas mounted a late 3rd period comeback that fell just short with goals from Jack Prince and Nick Neville. Boxscore

Amarillo 6 @ New Mexico 1 – The 1st place Bulls had no problem with the Mustangs on Friday as they increased their South Division lead to eight points with a 6-1 win.  November player of the month Brooks Behling had two goals and Gregg Gruehl made 30 saves in the win.  Joe Kozlak and Geoff Fortman also had a goal and assist each in the Bulls win.  Matthew Uvodich scored the lone New Mexico goal. Boxscore

Dawson Creek 1 @ Fresno 7 – The Monsters bombed the Rage for a second straight night, outshooting Dawson Creek 42-13 for the game.  Mikhail Bushinski had two goals and two assists for Fresno and Brendan Bradley had three points for Fresno in the win.  Riley Borer and Petr Mainer also had multi-point nights for Fresno, who stayed a point ahead of Wenatchee for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West. Boxscore

Alaska 2 @ Fairbanks 1 – With a 2-1 win at Fairbanks, the 1st place Alaska Avalanche now enjoy the largest division lead of any team in the NAHL at 11 points.  Bodhi Engum made 19 saves in the win and a 3rd period goal from Brandon Brossoit was the difference as the Avs took a second straight game in Fairbanks. Evan Janssen also scored for Alaska, while Alec Hajdukovich scored the lone goal for the Ice Dogs. Boxscore