Friday Finals: Jets fly past Fighting Falcons
Port Huron 0 @ Janesville 4 – In a cross-divisional battle of 1st place teams, it was the Jets who shut down a high-powered Fighting Falcons offense on their way to a 4-0 shutout on home ice on Friday. Tony Kujava stopped all 29 shots to pick up his league-leading 9th shutout and 28th win of the season. Eric Carlson scored the first of his two goals in the 1st period, which proved to be the game-winner with assists to Pijus Rulevicius and Connor McBride. The lead increased to 3-0 in the 2nd period thanks to back-to-back goals from Jet forward John Olen. Olen made it 2-0 while on the power play, putting a shot past Falcons goaltender Max Milosek with help from McBride and Garrett Cecere. Six minutes later, Olen made it 3-0 with assists from Conor Lemirande and Lawrence Childs. Carlson’s second goal of the game came in the 3rd period while on the power play, as Cecere and Rulevicius both picked up their second assists of the night. Milosek ended up making 36 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Chicago 0 @ Traverse City 9 – The North Stars scored early and often in a 9-0 home rout of the Chicago Hitmen. Eric Rivard recorded a hat-trick and six other North Stars players picked up goals including Michal Toman, Mitchell Snider, Jared Van Wormer, Chris Waterstreet, Sean Murphy and Nathan Harris. Snider also picked up three assists for a four point night and Kyle Schempp chipped-in with three assists. Zach Nagelvoort picked up the shutout for Traverse City stopping all 21 Chicago shots. Boxscore
Texas 3 @ Amarillo 7 – The Bulls jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the 1st period and never looked back, scoring a total of four power play goals in a convincing 7-3 win over the Tornado in Amarillo. Greg Gibson scored twice and added two assists and Omar Mullan scored twice in the win. Forward John Gustafsson return after months out of the line-up due to injury and also had a multi-point night. Brooks Behling had three points and Mike Taffe made 30 saves in the win. Marc Biggs scored twice for Texas. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 1 @ Odessa 4 – The Jacks gave their playoff hopes a jolt with a 4-1 home win over the IceRays and now sit seven points out of the 4th and final playoff spot. Odessa jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Taylor Portner and Tyler Cayemberg. Frank Misuraca answered back on the power play in the 2nd period for the IceRays, but a power play goal from Jalen Krogman erased any comeback attempts by Corpus Christi. Josh Obregon added an empty-net goal. Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves in the win, while Anthony Stolarz made 44 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Austin 3 @ Aberdeen 2 – Bruins goaltender Nick Lehr made 37 saves as the Bruins picked up a big 3-2 road win in Aberdeen on Friday. Of the five goals scored in the game by both teams, four came on the power play. Jeremy Finger gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead, but that was answered by Lane Mahoney’s power play goal for Aberdeen. Two straight Austin goals from Jonathan Gehrt and John Simonson gave the Bruins a lead they would never lose. Matt Hansen assisted on all three Bruins goals. Boxscore
Bismarck 5 @ Minot 2 – The Bobcats crept closer to a Central Division title with a 5-2 win in Minot on Friday. Patrick Moore was the big offensive star for Bismarck, recording a goal and adding three assists for a four point night. Bryce Schmitt, Castan Sommer, Ryan Callahan and Danny Ray also scored for the Bobcats in the win. Bismarck led 5-1 after two period and dominated the shots, 43-19. Austin Hoff and Carl Krieger scored for Minot in the loss.Boxscore
Fairbanks 4 @ Fresno 3 – The 1st place IceDogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead and hung on for a 4-3 win in Fresno on Friday night. Garret Clemment had two goals and an assist and Tayler Munson picked up three assists in the Ice Dogs win. Rudy Sulmonde and Jeff Earnest scored in the 1st period to give Fairbanks a 2-1 lead. Chase Sisk scored for Fresno. Clemment scored in the 2nd period to make it 3-1 and again in the 3rd period to make it 4-2. A late 3rd period goal from Filip Winkler wasn’t enough to complete the comeback for Fresno. Boxscore
Kenai River 3 @ Alaska 4 (OT) – Newly acquired Tanner Fahlstedt scored :29 seconds into overtime as Alaska picked up a big home win over Kenai River in their first game in almost a month. Wehebe Darge scored to give Alaska a 1-0 lead, but Kenai River tied the game on a goal from Brett Lubanski. Casey Nelson and Joe Schmitz both scored to give Alaska a 3-1 lead after two period, but Kenai River tied the game in the 3rd period with goals from Miikael Arkimo and Marek Hemsky before Fahlstedt’s heroics in overtime. Boxscore
Topeka 1 @ Wenatchee 4 – Ben Carey recorded a hat-trick, including scoring three straight goals in the 1st and 2nd period as the Wild beat the ‘Runners on Friday, 4-1. Brian Christie gave Topeka and early 1-0 lead, but it would be the only lead of the game for Topeka as it became the Ben Carey show. Carey scored back-to-back power play goals to end the 1st period and start the 2nd period, and would add his third late in the 2nd period to give the Wild a 3-1 lead. Shawn Pauly scored in the 3rd period to make it 4-1. Boxscore
Coulee Region 0 @ Alexandria 2 – In a battle of two hot goaltenders, it was Alexandria’s Jacob Meyers show would stop all 30 Coulee Region shots on his way to his 5th shutout of the season as he topped Aaron Davis and the Chill, 2-0. Davis made 39 saves in the loss. Seth Ronsberg picked up a goal and an assist including scoring the game’s first goal in the 2nd period which turned out to be the game-winner. Thomas Williams added the other Blizzard goal in the 3rd period. Boxscore
New Mexico 4 @ Wichita Falls 3 (SO) – The Mustangs jumped into a 6th place tie in the South Division with a 4-3 shootout win on Friday night in Wichita Falls. Josh Bretner was the hero in the shootout for the Mustangs, who got goals in regulation from Bill Kent, Jayson Angus and Adam Chapie, who also recorded an assist. The Wildcats goals came from Brennan Parker, Zach Pochiro and Jake Townsend. Jake Stafford picked up his 5th win in his last six starts, making 38 saves. Boxscore
Springfield 4 @ Michigan 2 – The Jr. Blues got three point games from Kyle Cook and Josef Pontasch as they clinched a playoff spot with a 4-2 road win in Flint. Springfield jumped out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Kevin Walters, Cook and Pontasch. The Warriors mounted a 3rd period comeback with goals from Michael Economos and Robert Mantha, but the comeback was halted by an empty-net goal from Gavin Tufte. Gabe Antoni made 32 saves in the win for Springfield. Boxscore
