Richfield, Minnesota – The Springfield Jr. Blues rallied in the 3rd period Saturday night against the Minnesota Magicians but fell short of the comeback, losing 5-4 in a shootout. Springfield’s record drops to 4-4-1-1 on the campaign and puts them in sole possession of 5th place in the Midwest Division.
Minnesota jumped out to an early lead in the 1st period as Isaac Henkmeyer-Howe scored just under three minutes into the game. Springfield would respond when Artjoms Lapiks (Riga, Latvia) scored his first goal of the season assisted by Brandon Puricelli (St. Louis, MO).
Minnesota would dominate the 2nd period as they scored three goals. One goal from Henkmeyer-Howe, one from Matthew Stanton, and one from Cameron Buhl. Springfield’s lone 2nd period tally came from Puricelli under five minutes into the period, which at the time tied the game 2-2. Jayden Jensen (Marengo, IL) and Max Osborne (Anchorage, AK) assisted on Puricelli’s goal, but heading into the 2nd intermission Minnesota was in front 4-2.
It took an incredible 3rd period performance by Max Brainin (Buffalo Grove, IL) and Jack Williams (St. Louis, MO) to tie the game up at 4, as Brainin scored twice in the period and Williams stopped all 13 Magicians shots. The first goal occurred at the 4:29 mark of the period assisted by Lukas Zukauskas (Jonova, Lithuania) and Ben Schmidling (St. Joseph, MO). The second goal was unassisted right before the halfway mark of the period, and for the final 10 minutes the game was tied 4-4.
But that was where the luck would run out for the boys in blue. Despite scoring chances in overtime and a lead in the shootout, Minnesota capitalized on back to back attempts to claim the victory.
Make sure to follow our Facebook and Twitter pages for player news, game updates, and upcoming event information.
