BLAINE, MINN.- The Austin Bruins (2-0-0-0) kicked off day one of the NAHL showcase with a 6-1 victory over the Elmira Aviators (3-2-0-0) earlier today.
The Bruins picked right back up where they left off on Saturday, aggressively attacking the NAHL newcomers.The shots were flying as for the second straight the Black and Gold outshot their opponents, this time by a whopping 48 to 27 margin. Elmira was held to single digit shots in the first (9) and third (6) periods.
Captain Jackson Rilei netted his first goal of the season to put the Bruins on the board first, a lead they would not surrender for the entirety of the game. The eventual game winner came just over a minute into the second period when Gavin Hruza scored his first of the year thanks to an assist from Rilei and newcomer Evan Malkhassian, the first career point for the latter.
Luc Malkhassian shined, scoring not only his first career NAHL goal, but also netting a hat trick. The Toronto native’s three goal performance plus two assists brought his season point total up to nine points across his first two games for the Bruins. The Malkhassian, EJ Paddington and Alex Laurenza line continued their impressive start to the season, combining for a total of eleven points, with Paddington scoring his third goal of the year combined with three assists and Laurenza recording two helpers of his own.
Jack Solomon saw a little more action in net this afternoon, stopping 26 of the 27 Elmira shots he faced. Solomon improved to 2-0-0 on the season keeping his goals against average at 1.00, tied for second best in the NAHL. The netminders .949 save percentage also sees him in the top ten among the league’s goaltenders.
The Bruins return to action during day two of the Showcase tomorrow morning against the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. Puck drop is set for 10:15 am at the Super Rink in Blaine. The game will be streamed on NATV.
