Alexandria played Granite City three straight times this week going 0-2-0-1, but with the New Ulm losses this weekend, they are heading to the playoffs once again.
Wednesday night they hosted the Lumberjacks, but came up just short losing 3-2 in a shootout. Sean Kenny scored on the first shift of the game with assists from Caleb Strong and Trent Sylvester. Colin Tushie scored his 11th of the year in the 2nd period for a 2-1 lead after two periods. Granite scored the lone 3rd period goal to force overtime and eventually a shootout. Nikolai Rajala scored to extend the shootout to an extra round but the Lumberjacks prevailed for the extra point. Atticus Kelly made 35 saves in the shootout loss.
Friday night the Blizzard were at Granite City and lost another close one 3-1. Wyatt Johnson score his 1st of the year in the 3rd period to pull within a goal at 2-1. With the score still 2-1 heading down the stretch, Granite City got an insurance goal with just under five minutes to play. Joey Greilich stopped 26 of 29 shots, but suffered the loss in net.
Sunday night Granite City came back to Alexandria riding a 7 game winning streak, and won another close battle. Trailing 2-0 Sean Kenny scored his 9th of the season halfway through the game with Caleb Strong and Kaden Peterson picking up the assists. Then Dallas Duckson pulled the Blizzard to within a goal at 3-2 midway through the 3rd period. Nikolai Rajala got the assist on Duckson’s 12th of the year. The Lumberjacks scored another late insurance goal for the 4-2 victory. Atticus Kelly made 38 saves in the loss.
The Blizzard (14-18-1-1 – 30pts) remain in 4th place in the West. They’ll travel to New Ulm on Saturday and Willmar on Sunday night. Both games start at 7:10 pm. They’ll be back home March 24th, 26th and 27th to close out their regular season home schedule. Tickets are available online at tickets.alexandriablizzard.com. Games are always available online as well at hockeytv.com