ABERDEEN, SD – Gabe Vinal stopped all 20 Bruins shots that came his way and Andrew Walker’s goal in the first half-minute of the game was all the Wings would need as they cruised to a 3-0 win over the Bruins on Friday night at Odde Ice Center. Aberdeen pushed their Central division lead over Austin to four points with one head-to-head game remaining.
Walker tipped an Andrew Sinard point shot at the :25 second mark of the opening period to give the Wings the early lead. The offensive flourish continued to the 4:08 mark when Jonathan Bendorf finished a pass from Nic Sicoly in the slot to make it 2-0. The Bruins were held to just three first period shots.
Aberdeen extended their lead to 3-0 just over the midway point of the second period when they cashed on quickly on the power play. Schilling stopped Tim Makowski’s one-timer, but Sicoly scooped up the rebound and backhanded it home. The Bruins pelted 14 of their eventual 20 shots on Vinal in the middle frame but he held strong and kept the score 3-0.
The Wings went into a defensive shell in the third and the Bruins had no answer, with another three shot total and few scoring opportunities. Vinal’s shutout was his first of the season. Schilling turned aside 19 of 22 in the loss. The Bruins and Wings wrap up their season series on Saturday night at 7:15 PM. The game can be watched live in HD on HockeyTV.com (AWAY) and streaming at The Bakery Lounge in downtown Austin.
