Austin Bruins fall to St. Cloud Norsemen 3-0 in regular season finale Saturday evening
After clinching a spot in the NAHL Central Division playoffs with a 6-1 win over the St. Cloud Norsemen at Riverside Arena Friday evening, the Austin Bruins were looking to lock down the No. 3 seed with a win in their regular season finale in St. Cloud Saturday evening, and in a game you heard on AM 1480 KAUS, it was the Norsemen striking for three goals in the third period, two of them on the power play, and goaltender Ryan Manzella turned away all 24 shots he faced in a 3-0 St. Cloud win.
The Bruins outshot the Norsemen 24-21 for the game, with Austin netminder Vilgot Holm making 18 saves, and the Bruins were called for eight penalties for 27 minutes for the game, while St. Cloud was whistled for five penalties for 21 minutes, and the Norsemen wound up going 2 for 5 with the man advantage, while Austin was 0 for 2.
The Bruins finish the regular season with a record of 31-25-3-1-1, good for 66 points, but Saturday night’s loss, coupled with a 3-2 win for Aberdeen over the North Iowa Bulls vaults the Wings past the Bruins into third place with 67 points, meaning Austin finishes as the No. 4 seed in the division playoffs, and they will travel to Minot to take on the top-seeded Minotauros next Friday and Saturday night, with face-off times for Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-five series yet to be determined.