AUSTIN, MN – A sell out crowd was treated to an exciting game between the Bruins and Coulee Region Chill in the 6th annual "Paint the Rink Pink" game at Riverside Arena on Saturday night, but it was the visiting Chill that prevailed by a 4-3 final score. Coulee Region has won all four games in Austin this season.
The Chill got the scoring started one minute into the opening period when Kevin Dineen finished off a three-on-one rush, tapping a Justin Kendall rebound into a wide open net. Before the game was five minutes old, Joey Sofo scored a power play goal to make it 2-0. The Bruins were resilent all night, however and they'd get on the board at 8:07 when Evan Cholak and Jade Miller set up Gilbert Gabor. Coulee led 2-1 at the first intermission.
The Chill, who came into the game with the league's last ranked power play, converted again with the man advantage at 7:43 of the 2nd period when Isaac Theisen was set up by Dominik Florian to the left of Bruins goaltender Kris Carlson. It took only 11 seconds for the Bruins to respond, however when Miller put home his 22nd goal of the season off a feed from Gabor. It was 3-2 Chill after two.
The Bruins tied the game in the 3rd with a power play goal of their own at 8:28 as Austin Rueschhoff caught the Chill on a poorly executed line change and drifted through the slot, ripping a shot past Matiss Kivlenieks. Miller and Gabor added on to their big weekends with assists. The game remained tied at 3 until just over six minutes left when Scott Corbett's one-timer found its way past Carlson. The Bruins couldn't find the equalizer and met a 4-3 demise. Kivlenieks made 33 saves for his fourth win of the season against Austin.
The Bruins will get the chance to make it a completely road-dominated head-to-head series with the Chill next Saturday night at Green Island Ice Arena. Before that, they play host to the Minnesota Magicians on Friday night at Riverside Arena. Game time is 7:05 PM.
