Austin Bruins move back into playoff position with 3-2 win over Aberdeen Saturday evening

In a game you heard on AM 1480 KAUS Saturday evening, the Austin Bruins were looking to move back into playoff position in the NAHL Central Division with a win at the Odde Ice Center in Aberdeen versus the Wings, and a third period goal from team captain Austin Salani proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Bruins win.

After a scoreless first period, Austin’s Damon Furseth opened the scoring at 4:30 of the second period, with assists to Salani, his 37th of the season, and to Kaden Muir, his seventh.  After two goals one minute apart, the first on the power play for Aberdeen gave the Wings a 2-1 lead at 9:04 of the period, Jackson Rilei knotted the game at 2-2 with a power play goal at 11:21, with assists to Alex Laurenza, his 25th of the season, and to Damon Furseth, his 21st.  Salani’s 30th tally of the season at 6:43 of the third period proved to be the difference, with assists going to Ocean Wallace, his 21st, and to Dylan Cook, his 38th.

The Bruins outshot the Wings 40-22 for the game, with Austin netminder Trent Wiemken turning away 20 of the 22 shots he faced to earn the win between the pipes, while Aberdeen goalie Adam Dybal kicked out 37 of the 40 shots he saw to take the loss.  The Bruins were whistled for three penalties for six minutes, while the Wings were called for five penalties for 10 minutes, and Austin was 1 for 5 on the power play, while Aberdeen was 1 for 3.

With the win, Austin enters the last weekend of the regular season with a record of 30-24-31-1 for 64 points, one point ahead of Aberdeen and the St. Cloud Norsemen, who are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division with 63 points.  The Bruins will host the Norsemen for the first game of a home-and-home series Friday night, with faceoff at Riverside Arena at 7:05 p.m., and Austin will visit St. Cloud to wrap up the regular season Saturday evening, with faceoff at 7:00 p.m., and you’ll hear the game Saturday evening on AM 1480 KAUS and worlwide at myaustinminnesota.com.