Austin Bruins down St. Cloud Norsemen 4-2 Saturday night

Coming off a 3-2 shootout win in St. Cloud versus the Norsemen Friday night, the Austin Bruins were in search of win number four in a row against St. Cloud in the second game of a home-and-home series between the two clubs at Riverside Arena Saturday evening, and it was the Bruins jumping out to a 2-0 lead after one period on their way to a 4-2 win.

Austin struck early in the first period for a 1-0 lead when Landon Dauner tallied his first goal of the season at 1:50, with assists to Ashton Bynum, his sixth of the season, and also to Alex Laurenza, his seventh.  Isaak Brassard’s fourth goal of the season at 10:37 of the period, with an assist to Ocean Wallace, his second of the year made the score 2-0 Bruins after one period of play, but Gavin Gunderson and Michael Coleman each scored their third goals of the season for St. Cloud in the second period to knot the game at 2-2 after two periods of play.

The Bruins were able to weather the storm to start the third period, though, and Gustav Noren’s second goal of the season at 4:18 of the period, with assists to Austin Salani, his seventh, and to Dylan Cook, his fourth of the season gave Austin a 3-2 lead, and with Norsemen netminder Max Weilandt pulled for the sixth attacker, Austin Salani added an empty-net goal at 18:28, with an assist to Parker Anderson, his first of the year to account for the 4-2 final.

Bruins netmider Trent Wiemken turned away 27 of the 29 shots he faced to pick up the win between the pipes, while Weilandt turned away 28 of the 31 shots he faced in taking the loss.  It was a penalty-filled affair at Riverside Arena Saturday night as the Bruins were whistled for seven penalties for 30 minutes, while the Norsemen took 12 trips to the penalty box for a total of 48 minutes.

With the win, Ausitn now sits at 7-1-0-0 for 14 points, good for first place, four points ahead of second-place Bismark and Aberdeen.  The Bruins are back in action next Friday night at Odde Ice Arena in Aberdeen versus the Wings, with puck drop at 7;15 p.m. that evening.