Jr. Blues Drop 2 at Kalamazoo
February 11, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Springfield Jr. Blues News Release
Saturday
The Jr. Blues traveled to Kalamazoo this past weekend to face the Jr. K-Wings in 2 afternoon contests. The first game was Saturday afternoon. The Jr. K-Wings got on the board first, only to be answered by a Brett Skibba goal to even the score at 1-1 going into the first intermission. Kalamazoo would score only 13 seconds into the second period to take a 2-1 lead.
Skibba would again even the score, this time at 2, by spliting the Jr. K-Wings defensemen for a breakaway and scoring a nice backhand shot. Skibba blocked a shot that deflected to Tom Cooney who was able to make a nice pass to Skibba. Former Jr. Blue, Mike Fazio scored late in the second to give the Jr. K-Wings a 3-2 lead going in to the second intermission.
The Jr. Blues came out hard in the third scoring 3 goals in a row to take a 5-3 lead. Parker Johnson was able to bang home a rebound shot on the powerplay early in the period to make it 3-3. Then Skibba created a turnover on a perfect forecheck and found Ryan Atkinson in the slot for a 4-3 lead. Skibba would complete his hat trick with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game to make it 5-3.
However, Kalamazoo never gave up and was able to beat Jr. Blues goaltender Ryan Kellenberger for 2 goals in the final 30 seconds of the game to force overtime. In overtime, Kalamazoo was able to find the back of the net on a broken play with just under 2 minutes to take the 6-5 win.
Sunday
Sunday afternoon was a different story for the Jr. Blues. The Jr. Blues were shutout for the second time in three games, losing to the Jr. K-Wings 7-0. Skibba opened the game up by getting a breakaway but was unable to finish. Despite numerous opportunities to score goals, the Jr. Blues were unable to cash in. The loss drops the Jr. Blues to 0-3-1 in their last 4 games.
The Jr. Blues remain in 6th place in the North Division. The team travels to Flint, Michigan this weekend to face the Michigan Warriors. Game time is 7 PM EST Friday and Saturday night. The team returns home the 22nd and 23rd of February to face the first place Soo. Those games will start at 7:05.
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