Austin Bruins rout Aberdeen Wings 6-1 Saturday evening
Coming off a 7-3 loss to the Aberdeen Wings Friday night, the Austin Bruins were looking to get back on the winning track versus the Wings at Riverside Arena Saturday evening, and four second period goals from four different players helped the Bruins emphatically snap a three-game losing streak by the score of 6-1.
Austin’s Dylan Cook opened the scoring at 1:35 of the first period, with assists to Austin Salani, his 10th of the season, and also to Ashton Bynum, his 14th to make the score 1-0, but a goal from Aberdeen’s Matthew Wisener on the power play at 12:23 of the period knotted the game at one after one period of play.
The Bruins then broke the game wide open in the second period, as Alex Laurenza’s sixth goal of the season on the power play at 7:15, with assists to Salani, his 11th and to Bynum, his 15th made the score 2-1. Adler Johnson tallied his first goal of the season :22 seconds later at 7:37 to make the score 3-1, with an assist to Landon Dauner, his second, and the Bruins power power play then made the score 4-1 at 9:51 when Austin Salani tallied his 11th goal of the season, with assists to Dylan Cook, his 14th, and to Kaden Muir, his first. Another power play goal for Austin, this one from Ocean Wallace, his seventh of the season, with assists to Muir, his second and to Isaak Brassard, his third at 12:55 made the score 5-1 in favor of the home team at the end of two periods of play. Alex Laurenza’s second goal of the game and his seventh of the season, with assists to Jackson Luther, his first, and to Wallace, his fifth at 11:56 of the third period accounted for the 6-1 final.
The Bruins outshot the Wings 30-19 for the game, with veteran Trent Wiemken turning away 18 shots for the win between the pipes for Austin, while Wings goaltender Adam Dybal was tagged with the loss after making eight saves in facing 12 shots through two periods. Croix Kochendorfer played the third period for Aberdeen and turned away 16 of the 18 shots he faced. The Bruins were whistled for seven penalties for 14 minutes, while the Wings were called for six penalties for 12 minutes. Austin’s power play was clicking on all cylinders Saturday night, as they went 3 for 6 with the man advantage, while Aberdeen was 1 for 7.
With the win, Austin is now 13-6-1-0-1, good for 27 points and second place in the NAHL’s Central Divison, four behind division-leading Minot. With the loss, Aberdeen is now 8-11-1-2-1 for 19 points, good for 5th place in the division.
The Bruins will continue a four-game homestand Thanksgiving evening when they play host to the North Iowa Bulls at Riverside Arena, with face-off at 7:05 p.m. Thursday evening.
