Smith, Penalty Kill Help Bruins Even Series
April 25, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release
A fast start, perfect penalty kill and superior goaltending helped the Austin Bruins to a 4-1 win Saturday against the Minot Minotauros at Riverside Arena in Austin. With the victory, the Bruins evened the best-of-five Central Division Finals 1-1 and prepare to travel to Minot next weekend for the next two games of the series.
The Bruins pounced out of the gate with three first period goals. Alex Jasiek (St. Louis, MO) scored the first one at 5:01 of the period, when Trevor Boyd (Muskegon, MI) set him up with a pass across the slot. Jasiek snapped a quick one-timer past Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) from the left circle.
Nine minutes later, JC Maclean (Basking Ridge, NJ) and Brian Bachnak (Riverview, MI) battled for a loose puck with a lone Tauros defenseman at the Minot goalmouth and Maclean deflected the puck over Tolvanen to make it 2-0. On Austin s first power play, the top unit made quick work of their time, scoring on a tic-tac-toe play just eight seconds into the man advantage. Boyd set up Jasiek again on a similar pass as the first Bruins goal, but this time Jasiek returned the puck to the front of the net for Luke Dietsch (St. Paul, MN), who tapped home the goal.
The second period reinforced the physical nature of previous meetings between the two teams. There were seven combined penalties, and Austin was forced to kill off four Minotauros power plays, including a pivotal 5-on-3 midway through. Minot scored its only goal of the night short-handed, when James Mathias (Ontario, CA) set up Jon Lizotte (Grand Forks, ND) on an odd-man rush and Lizotte tipped the puck into the top shelf. Minot outshot Austin 13-5 in the period, but trailed 3-1 heading to the third.
All night, Bruins rookie goaltender Evan Smith (Parker, CO) was outstanding. He was called on to make three huge left pad saves on Mathias in the second, and flashed that same pad multiple times again in the third. Smith arguably had his best outing in a Bruins uniform and earned the 26-save victory, his second of the playoffs. Alex Pettersson (Ockero, Sweden) re-directed in an empty-net goal in the final minutes to seal it, as the Bruins positioned themselves right back into the series.
Games 3 and 4 will be next Friday and Saturday at Maysa Arena in Minot, ND. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:35pm, with Bruins internet and radio broadcasts starting at 7:25 on fasthockey.com and 1480AM KAUS, respectively. If necessary, Game 5 of the series would be back in Austin at Riverside Arena Monday, May 4 at 7:05pm.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 25, 2015
- Smith, Penalty Kill Help Bruins Even Series - Austin Bruins
- Johnstown, Pa., Home of "Slap Shot" Advances to the Kraft Hockeyville Championship Round - Johnstown Tomahawks
- One Down - Minot Minotauros
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