AUSTIN, MINN – First year Austin Bruin Tevin Stukel picked a great time to score his first career NAHL goal as the forward netted the game winner late in the third to help the Austin Bruins (6-3-0-0, 12 pts) to their first win of the season over the Minot Minotauros (7-2-0-0, 14pts) 4-2 Saturday night.
The Bruins struck first at 12:54 of the first period after defenseman Andrew Leung took a wrist shot from the blue line that snuck over the glove of Ryan Bodnar to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Logan Brown added to Austin’s lead after a poke check in the offensive zone by Elliot Bast Wiklund knocked the puck right to Brown’s stick as he cut across the crease to score his second goal of the season. The Bruins would take a 2-0 lead into the locker room after two periods.
Minot wasn’t going to be denied a goal, and leading scorer Briggs Knott wrapped around the net and stuffed the puck under Hayden Demaso’s pad to cut the lead in half at 3:51 of the third.
Joey Dellacroce needed just eight seconds on the power play to score off of a rebounded shot to even things up with his second goal of the weekend at 8:45.
The Bruins put the pressure on and after some commotion netfront, Stukel tapped in his first goal of the season past a scrambling Bodnar to give the Bruins the lead for good.
A late hooking call on Bruins captain Gus Elbert made things interesting, as the Tauros would go on the power play with 1:55 left in regulation. Minot head coach Cody Campbell pulled his goalie to give his team a six-on-four advantage.
Leung cleared the puck out of his own zone by banking it off the penalty box doors at just the right angle to solidify the two points for the Black and Gold. The goal was the veteran defenseman’s first shorthanded goal of his career and earned him his first career two-goal game.
Demaso picked up his second win of the year in net for the Bruins, stopping 26 of 28 shots faced.
The Bruins hit the road next weekend for a trip to the state capital of North Dakota to face off with the Bismarck Bobcats. Fans can catch both games at 7pm on NAHLTV.com and can select the Away feed to hear the Voice of the Bruins, David Koier.
