Austin Bruins sweep Bismark Bobcats with 4-1 win Saturday evening
Coming off a 4-1 win over the Bismark Bobcats Friday evening, the Austin Bruins were looking to sweep their NAHL Central Division rival at Riverside Arena Saturday evening, and four different Bruins lit the lamp in another 4-1 victory.
The Bruins power play unit played a huge role in the team’s win Saturday evening as after a scoreless first period, Austin Salani’s eighth goal of the season with the man advantage at 6:45 of the second period, with assists to Alex Laurenza, his 11th and to Dylan Cook, his 11th put Austin out in front, 1-0. Laurenza then tallied his fifth goal of the season on the power play at 8:30 of the period with assists to Ashton Bynum, his 11th, and to Austin Salani, his ninth to make the score 2-0 Bruins at the end of two.
With Bismark’s Thomas Neu in the penalty box for roughing at 7:56 of the third period, Will Diamond tallied Austin’s third power-play goal of the game at 8:44, his third of the season overall with an assist to Landon Dauner, his first, to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead. After Bismark’s Evan Hunter scored at 11:03 of the period to cut Austin’s lead to 3-1, Gustav Noren tallied into an empty net at 19:53 for his sixth goal of the season to account for the 4-1 final.
Bismark outshot Austin 24-21 for the game, but Matthew MacArthur and Trent Wiemken combined to turn away 23 of the 24 shots they faced, while Bobcats goaltender Stephen Peck made 17 saves in facing 20 shots to take the loss between the pipes. Austin was whistled for eight penalties for 16 minutes, while Bismark was called for seven penalties for 25 minutes. The Bruins wound up going 3 for 6 on the power play, while the Bobcats were 0 for 8.
With the weekend sweep, Austin is now 12-3-1-0 for 25 points for first place in the Central Division, two points ahead of second-place Minot, while Bismark 9-8-0-0 for 18 points, good for fourth place. The Bruins will travel to Minot to take on the Minotauros next Friday and Saturday, with face-off at Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena in Minot at 7:35 p.m. both evenings.