AUSTIN, Minn. – Two wins on the weekend over the Chippewa Steel helped the Bruins maintain pace atop the Central Division.
On Friday, Austin traveled to Chippewa Falls, WI where they took the lead early in the first period off the stick of Levi Staber. Moments later they tallied their second of the game when Hugh Larking scored his fourth goal this season. Despite the early lead, the Bruins allowed the Steel to climb back in the game and tie things at two goals apiece by the midway point of the second period.
Out of the locker-room in the third, Austin bounced back and regained their two-goal lead with goals from Lane Krenzen and Valdemar Ahlberg. Once again a pesky Steel team climbed their way into a tie scoring two more goals and making things very interesting. Enough was enough for the black-and-gold as the defenseman Josef Mysak blew by a couple Steel players and tucked the puck in the net for the Bruins fifth goal of the night and what would prove to be the game winner. Austin left Chippewa Falls with the win and the two points.
On Saturday night, it was the back end of the home-and-home with the Steel, and this time in front of their home crowd, the Bruins came to play. Despite no scoring coming in the first 20 minutes of play, Austin jumped all over the scoreboard in the second. Dante Sheriff got his team-leading sixth goal of the season when he pulled a wrist shot past Steel goalie Joshua Langford for the 1-0 lead. Later in the middle frame, the Bruins would get goals only 50 seconds apart from Garett Dahm and Connor Mylymok. For Dahm, the goal would prove to be his first of the night, while Mylymok celebrated his first goal of the season. Still in the second, Noah Kim also recorded his first goal of the year when his point shot beat Langford through the five-hole and gave the Bruins a commanding 4-0 lead, and chased Langford from the game.
Jackson Bernard stepped into the crease for Chippewa and while he faired better than his predecessor, the Bruins still found the back of the net when Dahm tallied his second of the game. Austin finished out the game on the power-play winning by a final score of 5-0 and notching their fourth win in a row.
Bruins goaltender Kyle McClellan earned the wins in both games, turning aside a total of 50 shots between both games. With the shutout on Saturday, McClellan now has three on the season and still ranks among the top five goalies in the NAHL.
The Bruins maintained top position in the Central Division with their wins, but they have a huge two game series coming up against the Minot Minotauros on the road in Minot. Austin returns home on November 9th and 10th for the second half of their four game stretch against the Minotauros.
Tickets for the Bruins next home games will go on sale Monday, November 5th at all the Bruins vendors.
