Alexandria hosted Willmar and New Ulm over the weekend and made the most of it.
Friday night the Warhawks came to town, and the Blizzard got off to a fast start when Trent Sylvester scored his second goal in as many games two and a half minutes in. Later in the first Austin McNeil made it 2-0 when he scored his 9th of the year on the power play with assists from Andrew Revering and Carter Rieland. The score stood that way until the waning moments of the 3rd period. Willmar had their goalie pulled and the extra attacker on the ice, but Caleb Strong blocked a shot at the Blizzard blue line and raced down the ice to score the Soderholm Insurance goal into the empty net and secure a 3-0 victory. Atticus Kelly got his first shutout in net for the Blizzard with 53 saves.
On Saturday the Blizzard welcomed New Ulm to the RCC and looked to stay perfect against the Steel. Dallas Duckson got the Blizzard off to a fast start again scoring his 10th of the season about six minutes in. Colin Tushie picked up his 10th assist. Atticus Kelly was heading towards back to back shutouts until New Ulm spoiled that by tying the game 1-1 with 20 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Caleb Strong took over in OT skating the length of the ice and lifting a backhander under the bar for his team leading 16th goal and second game winning goal. Atticus Kelly saved 34 of 35 for his 3rd win in a row. The Blizzard improved to 6-0 against New Ulm and have won three in a row outright.
The Blizzard (13-15-1 – 27pts) are in 4th place in the West. They will host New Ulm (5-19-3 – 13 pts) again on Wednesday night at 7:10 pm and then travel to Granite City on Friday night for a 7:30 pm puck drop. Tickets are available online at tickets.alexandriablizzard.com or Catch the action on hockeytv.com
