Alexandria jumped right into a three game weekend after the long pause, falling at Willmar on Friday night and splitting a two game home series with North Iowa. On Friday night the Blizzard found themselves in a 3-0 hole by the end of the 1st period when Caleb Strong scored his 7th of the year to make it 3-1 after one. Willmar added two more goals in the second for 5-1 lead after two. Strong scored his second of the game with just over four minutes left to pull within three but there wasn’t enough time for a comeback as Willmar skated away with a 5-2 victory. Strong, Nikolai Rajala and Sean Kenny each two points.
Saturday night saw North Iowa come to town and the Blizzard responded with a thrilling 3-2 victory. Wesley scored his first goal of the year pounding home a rebound off an Andrew Revering shot to open the scoring in the second period. North Iowa came back with two of their own, but Caleb Strong scored his 9th of the season in the final minute to tie the game at 2-2. Nikolai Rajala and Sean Kenny picked up the assists. The game went scoreless throughout the third period until the final minute when Austin McNeil found Cole Jacobs at the side of the net, who then slid the puck in front to a wide open Colin Tushie who buried the game winner with :30 seconds left. Joey Greilich made 32 saves for the victory in net.
Sunday night it was North Iowa who led 1-0 when the Blizzard opened up a three goal barrage in the second period. Kaden Peterson blasted home his 3rd of the year from the point on the power play with Cole Jacobs and Austin McNeil assisting. Just over a minute later Nikolai Rajala hammered home a one-timer from Sean Kenny to give the Blizzard a 2-1 lead. Moments later it was Rajala returning the favor as a he set up Kenny who got behind the Bulls defense on a two on one and buried his 4th of the year. That gave the Blizzard a 3-1 lead, but it was all North Iowa after that as the Bulls scored four unanswered and left town with a 5-3 victory and a series split.
The Blizzard (6-7-1) are 4th in the West, one point behind Granite City and Willmar, which is who they host Wednesday night before hitting the road this weekend to North Iowa on Friday and New Ulm on Saturday. The puck drops Wednesday night against the Warhawks at 7:10 pm. Get your tickets online at tickets.alexandriablizzard.com or catch the action on hockeytv.com