Blizzard go 1-2 in NA3HL Showcase

Dec 26, 2018

Blizzard go 1-2 in NA3HL Showcase

The Alexandria Blizzard was stymied offensively at the NA3HL Showcase in two of three games in Blaine this week.

The first Blizzard game took place Sunday December 16, in which Alexandria lost 3-0 against the Atlanta Capitals (16-14-3-0). Even though the Blizzard was unable to score, Alexandria outshot the Capitals 28-19.

On December 17, the Blizzard found a way to put the puck in the net in securing its only win of the showcase. Alexandria took down the Missoula Junior Bruins (14-12-0-0) 4-1.

The Bruins got the first goal of the game midway through the first period. The Blizzard got its first goal of the showcase off the stick of Dylan Mattson while shorthanded. Right before the end of the first period, Brett Meister gave the Blizzard the go-head goal with 18 seconds left in the frame.

The second period remained scoreless until the last minute when Alexandria took a two-goal lead with 30 seconds left. Tanner Frerichs got his first goal of the week on the power play.

The Blizzard put the cap on the win in the third period when Carter Rieland scored an unassisted goal. The Blizzard outshot the Bruins 47-17.

Alexandria went into the third day of the Showcase looking to end on the right note against the Coulee Region Chill (13-6-1-1). The Chill dominated the first period and scored three goals. Alexandria was able to get its second shorthanded goal of the showcase from Riley Scanlon. The Chill tacked on two more goals in the second period and took a 5-1 lead into the last frame. With just over 13 minutes left in the game, Brandon Connett gave the Blizzard some hope, scoring Alexandria’s second goal of the game. Five minutes later, the Chill put the icing on the cake and scored their sixth goal of the game.

Connett and Meister led the Blizzard with three points in the three games. Alexandria goaltender Kyle Haden had a showcase total of 32 saves on 37 shots. Ville Hyttinen got the start in net in the third game and stopped 36-of-42 shots.

Alexandria has a record of 14-13-0-1 and will play their next game at home on December 31, against the division-leading Granite City Lumberjacks.

ATLANTA CAPITALS 1 1 1 – 3

ALEXANDRIA BLIZZARD 0 0 0 – 0

SCORING- FIRST PERIOD- Atlanta- McKenna Cooper (Brody Nelson) 6:31

SECOND PERIOD- Atlanta- Vito Carlo (Christopher Linde, Jesse Keicher) 11:07

THIRD PERIOD- Atlanta- Brody Nelson (Cole Thomas Johnson

GOALTENDING- Atlanta- Quinn yager- W, 28 saves, 0 goals allowed; Alexandria- Kyle Hayden- L, 16 saves, 3 goals allowed

MISSOULA JUNIOR BRUINS 1 0 0 – 1

ALEXANDRIA BLIZZARD 2 1 1 – 4

SCORING- FIRST PERIOD- Missoula- Misha Akatnov (Trevor Prince, Vadim Zubkov) 7:24; Alexandria- Dylan Mattson (Brandon Connett) SHG 15:37; Alexandria- Brett Meister (Carter Rieland, Jared Sanborn) 19:42

SECOND PERIOD- Alexandria- Tanner Frerichs (Brett Meister, Brandon Connett) PPG 19:30

THIRD PERIOD- Alexandria- Carter Rieland (Unassisted) 5:04

GOALTENDING- Missoula- Evan Williams- L, 43 saves, 4 goals allowed, Alexandria- Kyle Hayden- W, 16 saves, 1 goal allowed

COULEE REGION CHILL 3 2 1 – 6

ALEXANDRIA BLIZZARD 0 1 1 – 2

SCORING- FIRST PERIOD- Coulee Region- Thomas Magnative (Brady Lindauer) 0:00; Coulee Region- Brady Lindauer (Toon De Schepper, Matt Janke) 8:12; Coulee Region- Donny Schultz (Unassisted) PPG 15:16

SECOND PERIOD: Alexandria- Riley Scanlon- (Tucker Kruse) SHG 1:09; Coulee Region- Brady Lindauer (Unassisted) 10:38; Coulee Region- Brandon Ratzloff (Blake Holmes, Brady Lindauer) 17:44

THIRD PERIOD- Alexandria- Brandon Connett (Brett Meister, Tanner Frerichs) PPG 6:14; Coulee Region- Brock Zukowski (Aslan Akervik, Toon De Schepper) 11:45

GOALTENDING- Coulee Region- Michael Janke- W, 25 saves, 2 goals allowed; Alexandria- Ville Hyttinen- L, 36 saves, 6 goals allowed