AUSTIN, MINN. – It took more than the regular 60 minutes Saturday night to determine a winner in Game Two of the Central Division Semi-Final. It took just over a minute into overtime before Nathan Williams fired home the game winner to win the game 4-3 and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Bruins struck first early in the first period on a John Flood wrist shot that zipped by Mason Gudridge at the 3:14 mark. Flood, who only had one goal in the regular season, now has a pair of goals through his first two postseason games.
Watertown tied it back up on an odd man rush that saw Owen Fask rip a wrister behind Jack Solomon just minutes later. Just like Friday night the game went into the first intermission knotted up at one a piece.
The Bruins outshot the Shamrocks 20-10 in the second period but couldn’t beat Gudridge and the game remained even after two.
After both teams combined to go 0-for-5 on the power play through the first two periods, the third saw a special teams explosion.
Zander Lipsett started the action with a power play goal just over five minutes into the frame after Watertown’s Noah Sergott was called for a high sticking.
Friday night’s power play scorer, Antons Macijevskis, scored a similar goal to his one in game one, tapping in a puck that snuck under the pads of Solomon off the shot by Jordan Gudridge.
The Bruins were back on the power play at 14:33 after Ben Davis was called for a trip. Austin was on the verge of scoring before a puck was tipped out of the zone and Gus Elbert and Joe Rice chased after it. Rice got the upper hand and sniped a short handed goal past Solomon to give Watertown its first lead of the game.
Still on the power play, the Bruins dizzied the Shamrocks with short quick passes before Siamion Marshchanok snapped the puck in for a game tying goal at 16:07. The scoring ceased and the game went to OT.
Enter Nathan Williams. The third-year Bruin took a pass from Carter McKay at the center point, walked a few steps towards the slot before unloading a wrist shot that bounced past Gudridge for the win and one step closer to moving on in the playoffs.
The Bruins are now one game away from heading to their second consecutive Central Division final.
Game Three is scheduled for Friday April 24th in Watertown, SD at the Prairie Lakes Ice Arena with puck drop set for 7pm.
