WEEKEND PREVIEW: Series Shifts to Riverside

Photo credit: Don Boesen, Boesen Photography

After the Bruins and Minotauros split the regular season series about as evenly as two teams could, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by a 1-1 series after the stage shifts to Riverside Arena this weekend. With one win a piece at Maysa Arena in games one and two, the teams are now an identical 5-4-1 against each other in ten games over the course of the regular season and now into the playoffs. Up next is a pivotal game three to decide who feels the pressure in Saturday’s game four.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR –

Special Teams: It doesn’t take a hockey expert to figure out that each of the first two games of this series have been squarely decided by power plays. Tied at one entering the final seven minutes of regulation in game one, the Bruins got into penalty trouble and gave up a pair of 5-on-3 goals to Christian Mohs and Jack Murphy – giving Minot a 3-1 win. On Saturday night, three of Austin’s four goals came with the man advantage (Miller, Rueschhoff, Paganelli) in the 4-1 series tying victory.

Scoring First: Getting the first goal is always extra crucial in playoff games, but to the Bruins and ‘Tauros, it seems like an even larger factor. During the regular season, Minot was 21-2-3 when scoring first, while the Bruins came in at 20-6-1. In the head-to-head (including the first two games of playoffs), each team is 4-0-1 when scoring first.

Red Hot Rueschhoff: Not only does Austin Rueschhoff have six goals in his last seven games, but he’s now got seven in ten meetings with Minot this year. Rueschhoff scored the eventual game winning goal on Saturday night, his fourth in five games at Maysa Arena this season. 12 of Rueschhoff’s 19 goals in the regular season were power play tallies, as have been five of his last six.

The Big Five: Over half of the Bruins’ goal scoring in the regular season came courtesy of Rueschhoff, Jade Miller, Gilbert Gabor, Jacob Paganelli, and Justin Misiak. The five forwards scored 99 of Austin’s 181 goals (55%) and all of them but Misiak (who had an assist Friday) registered points in Saturday’s game 2 win, with Miller, Gabor, and Paganelli each enjoying multi-point games.

CENTRAL DIVISION SEMIFINALS SCHEDULE:

GAME RECAPS:

GAME 1 – AUSTIN: 1 AT MINOT: 3
SCORING:
MNT – Murphy (Gavin) – 14:53 of 1st
AUS – O’Connor (Misiak, Miller) – 17:41 of 1st
MNT – Mohs (Springman, Fuss) – 14:18 of 3rd (PP)
MNT – Murphy (Frentz, Dittel) – 16:34 of 3rd (PP)
GOALTENDING:
AUS – Carlson (30 saves on 33 shots)
MNT – Rivers (22 saves on 23 shots)
POWER PLAY:
AUS – 0 for 4
MNT – 2 for 10

GAME 2 – AUSTIN: 4 AT MINOT: 1
SCORING:
AUS – Miller (Gabor, Paganelli) – 1:27 of 1st (PP)
AUS – Rueschhoff (Miller, Karlstrom) – 4:39 of 2nd (PP)
AUS – Paganelli (Miller, Gabor) – 14:06 of 2nd (PP)
MNT – Gavin (unassisted) – 17:00 of 3rd (EA)
AUS – Cholak (Paganelli, Kothenbeutel) – 19:51 of 3rd (EN)
GOALTENDING:
AUS – Carlson (29 saves on 30 shots)
MNT – Rivers (24 saves on 27 shots)
POWER PLAY:
AUS – 3 for 5
MNT – 0 for 5

2015-16 Austin vs. Minot head to head (Tied 5-5)
click date for game story

10/16/15 Minot 3/OT at Austin 2
10/17/15 Minot 4 at Austin 2
10/30/15 Austin 2 at Minot 1
10/31/15 Austin 5 at Minot 0
11/27/15 Minot 1 at Austin 3
11/28/16 Minot 3 at Austin 2
04/01/16 Austin 2 at Minot 3
04/02/16 Austin 3/OT at Minot 2
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04/15/16 Austin 1 at Minot 3 (Game 1)
04/15/16 Austin 4 at Minot 1 (Game 2)

HOW TO FOLLOW THE GAMES –

The puck drops from Riverside Arena on Friday and Saturday night at 7:05 PM CT. Tickets are on sale now at Hy Vee, Jim’s Marketplace, Games People Play, and the Holiday Inn and Conference Center for $4 off the door price ($11/adults and $8/students & seniors). Tickets purchased can be used for either game.

Both games will be broadcast with live streaming video and audio on FASTHockey.com (HOME FEED), and audio only on AM 1480 KAUS in Austin as well as streaming online at myaustinminnesota.com. The broadcast begins at 6:55. Intermission updates for all games can be found on Facebook and Twitter (@theaustinbruins).