Amarillo, Fairbanks and Port Huron all on cusp of berths to Cup

Topeka 0 @ Amarillo 3 (Amarillo leads series, 2-0) - Goaltender Gregg Gruehl stopped all 33 shots he faced and Brooks Behling netted two third period goals to spark the Bulls past the Topeka RoadRunners 3-0 at the Budweiser Bull Pen in the Amarillo Civic Center.mThe Bulls can wrap up the series with a victory in Topeka on Thursday night at the Kansas Expo Center Landon Arena.  This game was in sharp contrast Friday night, where the two teams combined for 14 goals, including seven alone in the second period. It was a defensive minded contest between the two teams which has become the norm through the two years of the rivalry.  It was a scoreless first 28 minutes of hockey before the Bulls grabbed the lead. Brandon Lubin started the play with a rush deep inside Topeka territory. Lubin’s slap shot was stopped by goaltender Peter Traber, and Karl Beckman was there to pounce on the rebound and stick it into the back of the net. The Bulls turned up the intensity and emotion in the final 20 minutes and were rewarded for their hard work when Brooks Behling scored shorthanded from John Rey and Mike Erickson at 9:52. Just over two minutes later, Behling went at it again when he scored on a breakaway with a great move around the Topeka defensemen. Gruehl continued to stand tall in net with some big saves, including one from Ben Bahe who scored three times the previous night.  The Amarillo Bulls outshot the Topeka RoadRunners 42-33. Each team had five power plays in the contest with the Bulls netting the lone marker. Boxscore

Springfield 1 @ St. Louis 0 (Series tied, 1-1) - Gabe Antoni made 34 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs, and Garrett Williams scored the only goal on assists from Cody Dixon and Mike Williams in the 2nd period as the Jr. Blues knotted up their series with the St. Louis Bandits.  The win happened 24 hours after the Blues were beaten in Game 1 by the Bandits, 7-1.  Perhaps the biggest difference was Springfield’s discipline as they 10 minutes in penalties Saturday. Boxscore

Kalamazoo 2 @ Port Huron 5 (Port Huron leads series, 2-0) – The Fighting Falcons find themselves one win away from the Robertson Cup Tournament thanks to a dominating 5-2 win over the Jr. K-Wings.  Port Huron took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period with goals from Alex Archibald and Brett D’Andrea.  The lead increased to 4-0 in the 2nd period with goals from Ryan Teal and Mike Moroso.  Moroso added another in the 3rd period in between goals from Andrew Graves and Brett Beauvais. Boxscore

Austin 4 @ Bismarck 3 (OT) (Series tied, 1-1) – The Bruins only led once in the game, but it was the overtime-winning goal from Joe Siers that gave them that only lead and win to tie their Central Finals series with Bismarck as the series heads back to Austin for Games 3 & 4.  Brandon Wahlin was a one-man wrecking crew for the Bruins as he scored all three goals in regulation for Austin.  Shane Omdahl scored twice and Buster Hebda added the other goals for Bismarck. Boxscore

Wenatchee 1 @ Fairbanks 2 (OT) (Fairbanks leads series, 2-0) – The defending Robertson Cup champs are just one game away from being able to defend their title at the tournament thanks to a 2-1 overtime win in Fairbanks on Saturday.  Max Birkinbine had the overtime-winning goal and an assist in the game and Pavlo Padakin had the other marker for Fairbanks.  Jerad Tafoya scored the lone goal for Wenatchee, who was outshot 36-19.  Alex Fons made 18 saves in the win, while Greg Lewis made 34 saves in the loss. Boxscore