Friday Finals: Jr. Blues get big win in Kenai River

Springfield 2 @ Kenai River 1 – Ryan Atkinson kept his hot play going as the Jr. Blues forward ran his goal-scoring streak to five straight games with the game-winning goal and an assist as Springfield picked up a big road win in Kenai River on Friday night, 2-1.  The Jr. Blues never trailed in the game as Jeff McFarland opened the scoring in the 1st period to give the Jr. Blues a 1-0 lead with assists to Parker Johnson and Atkinson.  Ryan Walker tied the game in the 2nd period for the Brown Bears with assists to Chris Nuth and Mikail Bushinski, but Atkinson answered midway through the 3rd period with another assist to Johnson.  Jr. Blues goaltender Ryan Kellenberger was stellar in the win stopping 41 of 42 shots. Boxscore

Soo 7 @ Jamestown 3 – In a battle of the top two teams in the North Division, the Soo Eagles flew away with a convincing 7-3 win on Friday, thanks to a three-point night from Sean Murphy.  It didn’t take the Eagles long to jumped out to a big lead as Eric Rivard, Michael Covach and Jared Van Wormer all scored in the opening 12 minutes.  Murphy, Chris Waterstreet and Michael Crowley added 2nd period goals and Murphy added his second goal in the 3rd period.  Aaron Scheppelman, Tyler Dunagan and Luc Gerdes scored for the Ironmen. Boxscore

Port Huron 3 @ Johnstown 2 (SO) – The Fighting Falcons snapped a seven-game skid with a 3-2 shootout win on Friday.  Johnstown played well and never trailed in the game until Port Huron’s Easton Powers and Ian Miller scored in the shootout.  Both Powers and Miller also scored in regulation, with Powers scoring in the 1st period and Miller in the 3rd period.  Casey Nelson and Zach Wallace had the goals for the Tomahawks.  Alex Blackenburg made 36 saves in the win for Port Huron. Boxscore

Austin 5 @ Brookings 3 – The Bruins scored three, 1st period goals and never looked back as they won a big road game in Brookings on Friday.  Five different players scored for the Bruins, including Chris Fischer, Easton Viitala and John Simonson all in the first nine minutes.  Brookings goals from Thomas Williams and Matt Youso cut the lead to 3-2, but goals from Drew Anderson and AJ Reid put the game out of reach.  Conor Andrle added the other goal for the Blizzard. Nick Lehr made 41 saves in the win. Boxscore

Bismarck 4 @ Aberdeen 2 – Two goals in the final 12 minutes of the game was the difference as Bismarck moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the Central Division with a 4-2 win on Aberdeen on Friday.  A goal from Erik Baskin gave the Wings an early 1-0 lead, but the Bobcats responded right back with a goal from Cory Chapman.  After Patrick Moore have Bismarck a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period, Justin Parizek tied the game early in the 3rd.  However, two goals from Stanislav Dzakhov and Adam Knochenmus secured the Bobcats win. Boxscore

Minot 2 @ Coulee Region 4 – All the scoring in Friday’s game came in the 1st period as the Minot Minotauros jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Cameron Rowat and Jake O’Borsky, but the Chill would respond in furious fashion with four goals in the final nine minutes of the 3rd period.  After Cam Bleck’s goal cut the lead to 2-1, it became the Mac Jansen show as the Chill forward scored the next three goals in a span of less than three minutes to put Coulee Region up 4-2 for the remainder of the game.  Boxscore

Odessa 2 @ Wichita Falls 6 – Six different players scored for the Wildcats as they scored three goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods to top the Jackalopes.  After a scoreless 1st period, the Wildcats scored three times in the 2nd period on goals from Chris Knudson, Colin Staub and Sami Salminen.  Anthony Olguin had the Jacks goal.  In the 3rd period, Ben Kucera, Matt Robinson and Nick Farmer had the Wildcats goals while Lawrence Cornellier had a shorthanded marker for Odessa. Boxscore

Texas 4 @ Corpus Christi 3 – Jackson Leef had the game-winning goal in the 3rd period and an assist to lead the Tornado to their fifth straight win.  It was a tale of two periods as Texas controlled the 1st period with three goals from Brandon Platt, Louie Rowe and Nick Blase.  The IceRays controlled the 2nd period with three goals of their own to tie the game from Andrew Paras, Michael Economos and Rudy Sulmonte.  But, Leef’s goal in the 3rd period would be the difference. Boxscore

Topeka 4 @ Amarillo 3 (SO) – The RoadRunners climbed back from a 3-1 deficit heading into the 3rd period to ultimately defeat the Bulls, 4-3 in a shootout on Friday.  The Bulls jumped out to a 3-1 lead with goals from Tyler Deresky, Brady Ferguson and Joe Grabowski.  Kyle Sharkey had the lone Topeka goal through two periods.  However, two 3rd period goals from Dan Dupell and Tyler Andrew tied the game and sent it to a shootout.  Three of Topeka’s four shooters would score to complete the comeback and secure the big road win for Topeka. Boxscore

Wenatchee 3 @ Fresno 0 – Wenatchee goaltender Robert Nichols stopped all 24 shots that came his way for his league-leading 6th shutout of the season as the Wild blanked the Monsters in Fresno on Friday.  All the scoring for the Wild came in the 2nd period as Justin Bonanno, Chris Jones and Max McHugh scored all the goals within a four-minute span.  Tomas Sholl was in goal for the Monsters and made 28 saves in the loss. Boxscore

Janesville 0 @ Fairbanks 4 – Kevin Aldridge had to make just 15 saves and Fairbanks scored in each period as they shutout the Jets in front of a sold-out crowd in Fairbanks.  Fairbanks took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period as Colton Wolter and Doug Rose scored.  The lead increased to 3-0 as Jakob Romo added a 2nd period goal and Jayson Angus finished the scoring in the 3rd period.  Fairbanks doubled up Janesville in the shot category, 30-15. Boxscore