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Blaze Score Crucial Win over Cutthroats

March 16, 2013 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bloomington Blaze News Release


BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington Blaze, fueled by Mid-Illini Credit Union, kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win over the Denver Cutthroats on Saturday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

The Blaze opened the scoring with 16:32 left in the opening period when Kyle Bochek tallied a top-shelf wrister on a three-man break that included Aaron Dawson and Matthew Larke. The Blaze made it 2-0 when Brett Lutes redirected a Steve Makway shot that popped up and fluttered in under the crossbar, also assisted by Nicolas Rioux, with 6:42 left before the first intermission.

The hosts built the lead to 3-0 with 12:17 left when Steve Makway found the back of the net on a 5-on-3 power play with assists given to Lutes and Nicklas Lindberg, and Kyle Bochek scored on the remaining penalty 1:07 later from Makway and Leo Thomas when he put a rebound into an open net at the right post for a 4-0 lead. The Cutthroats finally broke into the scoring column with 5:26 left in the middle chapter when Luke Fulghum capitalized on a turnover at the Bloomington blue line and scored on the run in the other direction to cut the Blaze lead to 4-1 at the second intermission.

The Cutthroats cut the deficit to 4-2 on a wraparound goal by Mikael Bedard with 18:36 remaining assisted by Luke Fulghum and Sean Zimmerman. The Blaze sealed the victory with 37.1 seconds remaining on an empty net goal by Nicklas Lindberg assisted by Matthew Larke.

Ross MacKinnon earned a 37-save win while Kent Patterson took the loss with 24 saves. Both teams had four power plays with the Blaze converting twice and the Cutthroats failing to score. The Blaze are now six points out of a playoff spot with five games remaining.

The Blaze host the Cutthroats in a rematch on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. followed by a 7:05 p.m. Tuesday game against the Missouri Mavericks. Both are Casey's 8 Gallons Nights featuring $8 admission with vouchers from casey's General Stores for each each eight-gallon fuel purchase. Vouchers are also available at www.bloomingtonblaze.com. The final home Blaze game is next Saturday, March 23 at 7:05 p.m. against the Quad City Mallards.

The Blaze have begun a silent auction for this season's red game jerseys at the season ticket table during Blaze home games. The auction winners will be announced during next Saturday's final home game.

For tickets, visit the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office between 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Matthewweekdays or call 309-434-2679. For group discounts and more information, call 309-TC SPORT (827-7678), like the Blaze on Facebook and follow the team on Twitter (BLMBlaze).

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