Valiant Valentine's Victory
February 14, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Austin Bruins News Release
A night after the Austin Bruins (27-10-11) dropped a disappointing 4-1 game in Brookings, the team responded in a big way on Valentine s Day Saturday. The Bruins flipped the script, winning 7-1 over the Blizzard (16-21-8) at Riverside Arena in Austin.
Saturday s game started much better than Friday s for the Bruins. A pair of rookies teamed up to put Austin on the board 3:30 into the game. JC Maclean (Basking Ridge, NJ) centered a pass from behind the Blizzard net, and Jade Miller (Minto, ND) threw a backhander behind Brookings goalie Ryan Kubic (St. Andrews, MB).
Zach Kennedy (Eagle River, WI) gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead at 11:35 of the period and Austin carried that lead into the intermission. Kennedy provided a perfect screen for a Trevor Boyd (Muskegon, MI) wrist shot to get through to the net. Then Kennedy spun around and tapped home for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Nine seconds into the second period, Brian Bachnak (Riverview, MI) caught the Blizzard flat-footed and rifled a wrist shot past Kubic from the slot to make it 3-0. A few minutes later, Jacob Kullberg (Kallered, Sweden) batted in a rebound, which chased Kubic from the game for backup Eric Hancock (North Royalton, OH). Even Hancock couldn t withstand the relentless Austin attack.
Still in the second period, Bachnak followed his own rebound for his second goal of the period to bring the lead to 5-0. Brookings erased the goose egg on the scoreboard thanks to a goal from newcomer Ben Campbell (Duluth, MN) at 15:18 of the frame. But Austin answered again 22 seconds later, when Boyd found Alex Jasiek (St. Louis, MO) in front of the net and Jasiek beat Hancock to make it 6-1, completing a four-goal second period for the Bruins.
For the second time in the game, Bachnak scored less than ten seconds into a period, when the Bruins captain completed his first-career hat-trick on the first shot of the third period. The goal gave the Bruins a touchdown on the night en route to a 7-1 convincing win to split the weekend series. Austin heavily outshot Brookings for the second night in a row (35-18), and Kielly stopped 17 shots in his 15th win of the season.
Next weekend, the Bruins travel up to Cloquet for a weekend series against the Minnesota Wilderness, leaders of the Midwest Division. Friday and Saturday s games are scheduled for 7pm. Both games can be seen on fasthockey.com, and Friday s game can also be heard on 1480AM KAUS in Austin.
North American Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2015
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- Balanced Attack Carries 'Cats Past Odessa - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Valiant Valentine's Victory - Austin Bruins
- Tomahawks Tie Game Late, Fall to Eagles in Overtime - Johnstown Tomahawks
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- Ice Miners Dominate Jets But Can't Solve Jurusik - Keystone Ice Miners
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- New Game, Same Result; Brahmas Earn One Point in 3-2 Shootout Loss - Lone Star Brahmas
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