The Austin Bruins (15-3-2) got back to their winning ways this weekend with a home-series sweep of the Brookings Blizzard. They are the two teams battling at the top of the Central Division in the North American Hockey League. The Bruins are now six points up on the Blizzard (13-6-0).
It was a 4-1 victory Friday night for Austin, and the offense really exploded Saturday for a 7-5 win by the home team once again. It was a better scoreboard showing than last weekend, with a 5-4 shootout loss and a 5-1 loss.
I was at Riverside Arena Friday night to take in another night of hockey. I spent most of it along the boards near the south goal again. That really is a neat perspective to watch a game, a spot I haven't really taken advantage of before.
It makes it a little more exciting when a lot of the action plays out right in front of you. In fact, the Bruins celebrated their first goal about four minutes into the game Friday along the glass right in front of where I was standing. Not bad in terms of excitement.
Get the scoring started
The first period had its share of penalties, with some combinations of four-on-four hockey and power-play time for each side. By the end of the first, the Bruins held their 1-0 lead.
Brookings tied it up early in the second, but Riley Colvard answered right back a few minutes later to give the Bruins the lead for good. In the third, a nice play from Brandon Wahlin to John Simonson made it 3-1 with 7:38 left, and Jay Dickman tossed in the empty-netter with 7.8 seconds remaining to wrap up the win.
Austin took control in the final two periods and could have had more than the four pucks that went in the back of the net. They had a couple of loud clanks off the iron for close-but-no-cigar moments; Cody Dixon in the first, AJ Reid in the third.
Fight? Not this time
Nothing really too notable in the fight department. A couple guys dropped the gloves right from a face-off, but the referees stepped in as the two were still skating around waiting for the first move. The fight-that-wasn't netted each player a two-minute delay of game penalty along with a 10-minute misconduct. The fans, who can get more excited about fights than the actual game, let out a few boos and seemed upset they didn't get to see a the rough stuff.
The Bruins face off against Brookings again this Wednesday for a little pre-Thanksgiving play, this time it will be on the Blizzard's home ice. Austin then travels to Aberdeen for a two-game series Thursday and Friday. It'll be interesting to see if the Bruins can increase their points lead, or if Brookings can narrow the margin a bit.
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