Bruins Set for First Clash with Watertown
October 24, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release
AUSTIN, MINN. - The Austin Bruins (6-5-0-0) make the trip to South Dakota this weekend for the first meeting in franchise history with the Watertown Shamrocks (2-8-0-1). Games take place Friday October 25th and Saturday October 26th from Prairie Lakes Ice Arena.
The road trip marks the seventh and eighth games of the season that the Bruins have played on the road, ninth and tenth if you include the three neutral site games at the NAHL Showcase. The Black and Gold are an even 3-3 when listed as the visiting team on the scorecard, including the first game of the Showcase against Elmira.
The Bruins split their home and home series against St. Cloud last weekend, with the home team picking up the victory in each contest. The Norsemen shutout the Bruins for the first time this season, picking up the 2-0 victory on Friday. The contest also saw the first time the Bruins lost when outshooting their opponent, firing one extra attempt than the Norsemen.
Austin got its revenge Saturday night with a back and forth meeting from Riverside on Saturday. The power play made the difference for the Bruins as two of the team's three goals came with the man advantage.
Jackson Rilei scored his third power play goal of the season to put the Bruins up at 9:33 in the first period. St. Cloud would score two unanswered goals, taking a 2-1 lead halfway through the game. Gustav Svantesson's second power play goal of the year tied things up just four minutes later.
For just the second time this year, the Bruins would head to overtime. With just under ten seconds to go, Alex Laurenza wrapped around the net and pushed in the game winning goal to give the Bruins their first home win of the season.
The Shamrocks also have been away from home for some time, as the central division newcomers haven't seen home ice since their 3-0 loss to Aberdeen on October 5th. Watertown is 0-3 when playing at Prairie Lakes Ice Arena in their inaugural season.
The Shamrocks traveled to central division leader Bismarck this past weekend, falling 5-2 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday. The newcomers are 0-5-0-1 in the month of October, with their last wins coming in the form of back to back victories at the Showcase.
Puck drop both night's is scheduled for 7 pm with play-by-play coverage provided by David Koier on NATV.
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