Bruins Hand Bismarck First Regulation Loss of the Season

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Bruins Hand Bismarck First Regulation Loss of the Season

November 2, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release


AUSTIN, MINN. - It took 13 games, but the Bismarck Bobcats (12-1-0-1) finally fell in regulation for the first time this season. The Austin Bruins (9-5-0-0) took their revenge on the central division leaders with a 4-2 victory Friday night. The Bruins have now won four games in a row, their longest streak of the season.

Bismarck struck first, taking advantage of a 5 on 3 power play after penalties by Gustav Svantesson and Ashton Bynum just 30 seconds apart. Bismarck's Zane Rowan beat Bruins netminder Jack Solomon after the Bobcats peppered the net with follow up chances, taking advantage of the two extra skaters.

Connor Beckwith redirected a shot from Alex Laurenza at 5:45 in the second period to put the Bruins on the board and tie things up at 1-1. In the waning minutes of the second period, Luc Malkhassian scored his fifth goal of the year to put the Black and Gold ahead, a lead they would not surrender the rest of the game. Malkhassian's goal marks the first time this year that he has scored a goal in back to back games.

With a 2-1 lead headed into the third period, Alex Laurenza added some insurance just 1:06 into the final frame of regulation. Laurenza took a swing at an airborne puck after Bismarck goalie Kai Weigel knocked an EJ Paddington shot into the air. Laurenza's goal proved to be the game winner after Alexander Kim scored fresh out of the penalty box at the 13:26 mark to make it 3-2.

Bobcats head coach Garrett Roth pulled Weigel late in the period for an extra skater to try and tie things up and send things to OT. The Bruins defense shut things down and Jackson Rilei buried an empty net goal with 18 seconds left to clinch a hard earned two points.

Rilei's goal marks the captain's fourth in seven games. Alex Laurenza continues his hot streak, extending his point streak to four straight games while scoring multiple points in the last three. The alternate captain has five goals and five assists good for ten points in his last four games.

Jack Solomon ties his longest winning streak of the season with his third straight victory Friday. The UMass-Lowell commit allowed just two goals on 25 shots, good for a .920 save percentage.Solomon is now up to 231 saves on the year with a 2.56 goals against average.

The Bruins and Bobcats face off again Saturday night with puck drop from Riverside Arena scheduled for 7:05 pm. Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at tickets.austinbruins.com.

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