Ahlberg’s Hat Trick Headlines Bruins Offensive Explosion

Apr 5, 2018

AUSTIN, MN – All four Bruins forward lines contributed to the offense with Valdemar Ahlberg leading the way in a lopsided Bruins win on Wednesday night at Richfield Ice Arena over the Minnesota Magicians. The Bruins jumped two points ahead of the Minnesota Wilderness for second place in the Central Division playoff picture entering the final weekend of the regular season.

The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period, opening the scoring at 3:10 when Garrett Dahm finished off a rush with his linemates. Xander Lamppa tried to split the defense and left the puck back to Andy Willis, who spotted Dahm down to the right of the Magicians net. Dahm slid the puck into an open net, his 2nd career goal. At 13:08, the Bruins doubled their lead when the Magicians turned the puck over below their goal line and Dante Sheriff found Evan Cholak on the doorstep. The Magicians finished the period strong, scoring at 15:06 thanks to Jarrett Lee, but the Bruins led 2-1 after one period.

At 4:41 of the second, the Bruins reclaimed control of the game when Alex Mella scored a power play goal. Jaden Shields fired wide from the point and Mella raced down to the bottom of the right circle, burying the carom from a tricky angle to make it 3-1. The Bruins opened their largest lead of the game at 10:02 on Ahlberg’s first of the night, driving the next and finishing a Riley Doyon shot that was set up by Josef Mysak. The Bruins skated into the second intermission with a 4-1 lead.

Early in the 3rd, Cholak and Ahlberg drove the net off a turnover at the Magicians blue line and Ahlberg slid home another at 3:43. Both head coaches used their timeouts over the next seven-and-a-half minutes before Xander Lamppa upped the lead to 6-1 at 11:16, banging home his own rebound. Ian Mageau and Dahm picked up assists. Just 25 seconds later, Ahlberg completed his hat trick, alone on the door step to finish an Andy Willis opportunity. On the play, Levi Stauber registered his first NAHL point – a secondary assist. Magicians defenseman Noah Ganske scored at 17:42 to bring the game to its 7-2 final.

Alex Schilling had a light night in goal, stopping 13 of 15 to earn his 20th win. Connor Klaers allowed all seven Bruins goals, going 24/31. The Bruins took the season series from the Magicians for the first time in three seasons, winning four of the six meetings. Bismarck comes to Riverside Arena this season to close the regular season with a pair of 7:05 faceoffs.

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