Alexandria Blizzard Hockey

The Blizzard came back to tie it, dominating the final 40 minutes of play before losing 3-2 on an unlucky bounce to the defending national champions.

It took the Blizzard 20 minutes to adjust to the larger Olympic-sized ice sheet at the Hardee's Ice Plex in suburban St. Louis. From then on, the Bandits were on their heels Wednesday night on day one of the Robertson Cup, the North American Hockey League's national championship tournament.

Taylor Vichorek and Luke Nesper scored for the Blizzard while Mikael Lickteig had two assists. The Blizzard outshot the Bandits 18-11 over the game's final 40 minutes. St. Louis is 32-2-1 on home ice this season.

“We are very happy with the way we played,” said Blizzard assistant general manager Grant McGinnis. “St. Louis is a heavy favorite to win this thing and we had them on the run.

“We just need to play our game and we'll probably see them again in the championship on Sunday.”

The Blizzard will face Topeka Thursday at 3 pm in their second round-robin game. The Roadrunners squeaked by Mahoning Valley 3-2 on Wednesday.