Jr. Blues Fall 3-2 in Opener

Sep 19, 2019

Blaine, Minnesota – Despite several surges and multiple tying goals, the Springfield Jr. Blues were unable to overcome the Minot Minotauros last night losing 3-2. Giovanni Carabelli and Jackson Salt each scored for the Jr. Blues while Ryan Wilson got the start in net, stopping 16 of 19 shots. 

Minot would grab the lead early on a rebound goal by defenseman Sam Skinner. However,  Springfield would answer back just three minutes later when Carabelli scored his first of the season with assists credited to Cam Cervone and Brett Morich. The game would remain 1-1 for another 10 minutes until Braeden Bartoo slid a bouncing puck past Wilson to give the Minotauros a 2-1 edge. 

Before the Minotauros could relax into a rhythm, Salt would score on a shot from the point that stayed on the ice through traffic. Caden Villegas and Max Osborne would pick up the assists on the power play goal, the first of the season for the Jr. Blues. Heading into the 1st intermission the game was tied 2-2 and had all the makings of a high scoring contest. 

Ville Immonen tallied a power play goal for the Minotauros just past the halfway mark of the 2nd period to give Minot a 3-2 lead and their third lead of the contest. However, that would be all the offense either side would put up as Wilson and his counterpart Ben Garrity both slammed the door shut in the final period. Despite a last second rush by Danila Larionovs, the Jr. Blues were unable to complete the comeback and fell 3-2.

By the Numbers:

Switching It Up – Giovanni Carabelli will be sporting #19 this season after wearing #26 last year. In his first game with the new number, Carabelli scored the Jr. Blues first goal of the season. 

Bad Opening Games – With last night’s loss to Minot the Jr. Blues are now 3-7 in opening games of the NAHL Showcase going back to the 2010-11 season including losing two straight and four of the last five. 

Good Second Games – While the Jr. Blues first games are rocky, we have been much better on day two. The record shows 5-4 since 2010-11, but we’ve won the last four games on day two and five of the last six.  

Coming Up Next:

The Jr. Blues will look to rebound against the Minnesota Wilderness this afternoon at 2:00 pm. The last matchup between these two teams came back in December 2017, the Jr. Blues won that game 5-2. Catch all of the action LIVE on HockeyTV, and make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for in-game updates and player news!