Soldotna, Alaska – The Jr. Blues came up a little short on Friday night at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex as the Kenai River Brown Bears edged the Jr. Blues 4-3 to pick up their second win in as many nights.
Kotaro Tsutsumi got the scoring started at 4:11 of the opening frame with his first of two on the night to give the Brown Bears the early lead once again. Jr. Blues forward Logan Sutton would tie the game a minute and a half later as the first year forward slipped one past Conor Sullivan on a nifty pass from Zach Howard. Both teams would trade scoring chances in an up and down first period, but either team executed, and they headed to the locker rooms tied 1-1.
The second period was all Brown Bears as they outshot the Jr. Blues 16-7 and were able to beat goaltender Nick Bunch twice. Hayden Walters scored his 5th goal of the year at 2:58 to give Kenai a one goal lead and forward Owen Hanson capitalized on a breakdown to put the Brown Bears up 3-1.
Trailing by two heading into the final period, the Jr. Blues, with their never say die attitude, brought the game within one as Trey Jefferis scored his 5th goal of the season on a power play at 3:39 minute mark. Tsutsumi would put the Brown Bears up by two again with his second of the game. Jefferis would add another for the Jr. Blues at 13:19 to bring them within one once again. The Brown Bears were able to hold off Springfield’s final push as goaltender Conor Sullivan made some big saves to hold onto the win. Nick Bunch took the loss for the Jr. Blues.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night at 10:30 PM CST. You can catch all the action live on NAHLTV.com.
