CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc. — In the final meeting of them season between the two clubs, the Austin Bruins were blanked by the Chippewa Steel, 3-0 on Wednesday Night.
The Bruins first game in their week of three road games in four days didn’t go their way. After a strong first period against Chippewa, it was the home-team Steel who scored two goals in less than 31 seconds in the second frame. The games first goal came off the stick of Jack Brown, who won a puck battle in the Bruins defensive zone and scored on his own rebound after Bruins goalie Hudson Hodges made the initial save. Less than a minute later, Chippewa jumped out in front 2-0 when Spencer Cox found former Shreveport Mudbug Ryan Waltman who sailed a shot over Hodges blocker arm and into the back of the net.
In the third, the Bruins managed to register more shots in period than either of the previous two, despite being on the penalty-kill twice, but Austin couldn’t solve Chippewa goaltender Grant Boldt who turned aside every shot he faced. Grieg Gotovets, the third-year Steel player, would tack on an empty-netter late in third period to ice the game in favor of Chippewa, 3-0.
For the Bruins, the loss takes their record to 9-17-2-2 on the season while the win for Chippewa improves their record to 7-11-1-1. Hudson Hodges was the defeated goalie of record while stopping 26 of the 28 shots he saw, while Grant Boldt earned his first shutout of the season by turning aside all 22 Bruins attempts. With the season-series completed, the Bruins won the battle winning 3-games-to-1 over the Steel.
Up next for the Bruins, they head out to Aberdeen for the first time since November to wrap up their season series with the Aberdeen Wings on Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6. Both games drop the puck at 7:15 with pregame broadcasts coming your way at 7:05 on HockeyTV and Power96.
