ST. CLOUD, MINN – The Austin Bruins (28-7-2-2) were able to hold on and secure the 6-4 victory over the St. Cloud Norsemen (19-6-1-3) despite 14 penalties including seven in the third period.
The Bruins started off Friday night’s contest firing on all cylinders scoring two goals in the first three minutes just 24 seconds apart. The all-Canadian line of Alex Laurenza, Luc Malkhassian and EJ Paddington combined once again for Laurenza’s 28th goal of the year to put the Bruins on the board at 2:36. A powerful snipe from Ashton Bynum just moments later added to the hot start and gave Austin a two goal advantage.
Later in the period, St. Cloud’s Kris Sarts cut the lead in half, but Emil Samuelsson had the response to send the Bruins into the locker room up 3-1.
The Bruins came out of the locker room unable to convert on the power-play after Norsemen forward Anderw Cumming was called for the cross check to end the first period. It was Bynum again at 4:40 to give the Bruins a three goal lead, the veteran’s second multi-goal performance of the season.
Halfway through the second period is where things started to come unhinged. Tyler Shaver and Hudson Blue dropped the gloves after Alex Laurenza netted his second goal, with each player awarded 15 minutes for fighting and St, Cloud’s Blue awarded an additional two minutes for slashing. Nathan Williams would capitalize, scoring his first power play goal of the season and his first goal since December 14th.
A total of 14 penalties were assessed in the second period, including a five-minute major and game misconduct on St. Cloud’s Sam Kartch for a hit on Bruins captain Jackson Rilei.
The third period did not prove to be much better, with thirteen penalties dished out between the two rivals. Emil Samuelsson rounded out the infractions with a late five-minute major for cross checking that saw the forward ejected as well with a game misconduct.
The Norsemen clawed their way back in the final frame, with Kyle Miller and Tim Runtso combining for two unanswered goals to bring the game within two. However the Bruins defense and penalty kill were able to silence the comeback to hold on to the win.
The weekend series makes its way down to Austin Saturday night for the 15th Annual Paint the Rink Pink Night. The puck drop on the yearly event is scheduled for 7:05 pm with a live jersey auction benefitting cancer research at The Hormel Institute immediately following the conclusion of the game.
Tickets are still available for purchase at tickets.austinbruins.com .
