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NAHL Austin Bruins

Bruins Best Norsemen 5-3 in Series Finale

February 23, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release


AUSTIN, MINN. - The Austin Bruins (32-7-3-2) capped off another four point weekend Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over the St. Cloud Norsemen (23-17-1-3). Saturday's game was the eighth and final meeting of the season between the two teams with the Bruins taking the season series 6-1-1.

The first period was about as even as they came with Austin recording just one more shot than the Norsemen. Ten minutes into the opening frame, Gavin Hruza found the back of the net to put the Bruins on the board. Hruza's goal marked the 31st time in 44 games this season that Austin has scored first. The goal snapped a four game point drought for Hruza and Emil Samuelsson, while Ryan Lund's assist was his first point in seven games.

The lead didn't last long as St. Cloud's Tyler Geyer sniped a wrist shot past Carl Axelsson just 1:41 later. Geyer's goal was the first goal allowed on a Saturday since January 4th against Watertown. Axelsson had previously gone four straight Saturday starts without allowing a single goal.

The Bruins came out of the locker room after the first intermission on a mission. Just shy of two minutes into the second frame, EJ Paddington redirected a shot from Alex Laurenza to give the Black and Gold a lead they would not surrender.

Three other Bruins would find the back of the net in the second period. Zander Lipsett added more insurance at 8:22, while Luc Malkhassian kept Austin's power play rolling with the eventual game winner just 1:23 later.

Alex Laurenza continued an impressive Saturday night performance adding a record tying 32nd goal on the season to his two assists. Laurenza now sits at 69 points on the year, just a point shy of tying former teammate Austin Salani's franchise record of 70 in a single season.

Just over a minute after Laurenza's goal, St. Cloud's Hudson Blue capitalized on an errant pass by Hruza to bury a breakaway goal to chip away at the Bruins four goal lead.

The third period began with a slash by Bruins defenseman Ryder Reynolds, just the second penalty committed all night by the Black and Gold. Tim Runtso made quick work on the power play, netting the Norsemen's third goal of the evening in just nine seconds.

The Norsemen comeback halted there as the shutdown Bruins defense held on to secure the team's fourth win in a row and 17th point in their last 10 games.

Despite sitting in a tie for second place in the Central Division standings with the Minot Minotauros, Austin holds the best points percentage in the North American Hockey League having played one less game than both Minot and Bismarck.

The Bruins return to action February 28th and March 1st to host the first place Bismarck Bobcats. Puck drop for both games is 7:05 pm from Riverside Arena with tickets available at tickets.austinbruins.com.

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