AUSTIN, Minn. – For the first time this season, the Austin Bruins won back-to-back games, their most recent victory a decisive 3-1 score against the Minnesota Magicians on Wednesday night.
It didn’t take long for scoring to get started in the game with Carson Riddle netting his ninth goal of the season. Sutter Muzzatti earned the primary assist on the goal, playing in his first game since returning from an upper-body injury he suffered back in February. Muzzatti walked down the right-wing wall and put a shot a couple of close proximity shots on goal. The rebound came off the stick of Minnesota goalie Darius Bell’s stick and went right to Riddle who didn’t miss. That would prove to be the only goal in the first period as Tyler Shea stayed perfect for the Bruins and the black-and-gold headed to the locker room up 1-0.
In the second period, it was the Magicians who got on the board to even the game at 1-1 when Hunter Longhi took a back-door pass from Devlin McCabe and roofed it over Shea’s right shoulder. Through two periods, the teams were locked even.
At the outset of the third period, the Bruins committed the game’s first penalty as Connor Mylymok was called for cross-checking. Austin managed to kill the penalty and took the momentum toward the other side of the ice. After Shea made a handful of saves in a short flurry, Minnesota was whistled for their first penalty of the game. With the man advantage, Austin broke the 1-1 tie when Ben Dexheimer, fresh off the bench, collected a puck in the slot and shot top shelf over the shoulder of Bell. Austin tacked on an empty-netter thanks to Barrett Brooks who scored from his own defensive blue line with just 53 seconds left to go in the game to increase their lead to 3-1, the game’s final score.
Tyler Shea turned out a solid performance kicking aside 29 of 30 Magicians shots while earning the win. On the other side, Darius bell was good on 35 of 37 shots he saw. With the victory, the Bruins improved to 15-24-4-2 while the Magicians slipped to 21-14-3-0. U[p next for the Bruins, they continue with a pair of road games against the Minot Minotauros in North Dakota on Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17. Following their trip to North Dakota, the Bruins faceoff with the Magicians in Richfield once again on Thursday, April 22 before welcoming the Magicians back to Riverside Arena on April 23 to wrap up the season series. To get your tickets to any upcoming Austin Bruins home game visit www.austinbruins.com/single-game-tickets.
