AUSTIN, MN – In front of the biggest crowd of the season on Military Appreciation Night, the Bruins delivered a 3-2 shootout victory over the Coulee Region Chill, extending their point streak to four games and taking three of four in the weekend series. Evan Cholak was the star of the game with two points and the game-winning shootout goal.
The Bruins, who had played three straight scoreless first periods, got an early lead when Travis Kothenbeutel buried a drop pass in the slot from Andy Willis at 4:58. Cholak got the secondary assist. Kothenbeutel’s goal was the 37th of his career, tying him with Jade Miller for fifth all-time in Bruins history. The rest of the first period was fairly mundane after the goal and the Bruins took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.
Coulee answered early in the second when Nick Lund took a pass from Billy Duma and flew to the net for his first goal of the season at the :56 mark of the period. The tie didn’t last long as Cholak would restore the Bruins lead at 3:48, sneaking a shot just inside the short-side post, with assists from Kothenbeutel and Anthony Stark. Shots were all deadlocked at 16 as the Bruins led 2-1 at the end of two periods.
The Bruins dominated the third, but the Chill were able to capitalize on a Bruins defensive mistake at 6:15 and Andrew McGlynn set up Coulee leading-scorer Nick Bowman to tie the game at two. Chill goaltender Emil Zetterquist was the story of the remainder of the period, as the Bruins pelted him with 17 third period shots, but he kept the game tied and headed for overtime.
After a scoreless 3-on-3, the game advanced to a shootout, the second consecutive for both teams, and the third in a row for the Chill. Mads Sogaard stopped Jackson Decker and McGlynn while Zetterquist saw Andy Willis shoot one wide but then allowed Cholak to dribble a shot between his pads. That left the game up to Bowman, who ran out of room on his backhand and sealed the Bruins’ victory. Sogaard made 24 stops for his fourth win while Zetterquist stopped 34 of 36 in the loss.
The Bruins (7-6-1-3) will travel to Cloquet on Friday for a 7:05 meeting with the Minnesota Wilderness before hosting the Wilderness on Saturday night, also at 7:05.
