Janesville, Wisconsin – The Springfield Jr. Blues used three power play goals on Friday and four different goal scorers on Saturday to sweep the Janesville Jets! Landry Schmuck, Aksel Reid, and Mac Gadowsky all led the way as the Jr. Blues improved our record to 15-17-0-0 for 30 points as we begin our push for the playoffs!
Friday: SPR 3 – 2 JNE
The boys needed something to bounce our way and a short trip to Wisconsin proved to be the right recipe as we jumped ahead on Friday night and never trailed all weekend!
Landry Schmuck, recently acquired from the Oklahoma Warriors, scored twice on the power play to lead the Jr. Blues to a strong 3-2 victory in front of a packed house at the Janesville Ice Arena. Nearly 1,000 fans were on hand to see the Jr. Blues and goaltender Aksel Reid stifle a Jets offense that was looking to continue their hot play as of late – keeping them scoreless for nearly 45 minutes.
Grant Ellings had a power play tally as well for the Jr. Blues while Nikita Nikora had two assists in the game. Mac Gadowsky, Edvards Bergmanis, Jake Peterson, and Brayden Cook all had one assist.
Reid, making his 17th start of the season, turned aside 32 of 34 shots in the contest to pick up his 6th win of the season.
Saturday: SPR 4 – 3 JNE
With one win in the bank and a weekend sweep on the line, the Jr. Blues and Jets concluded the series in Beloit, WI at the Edwards Ice Arena on Saturday evening. The boys refused to let the Jets get comfortable and held the lead from the 1st period on.
James Callahan found paydirt late in the opening period on a shot from the high slot and then Mac Gadowsky doubled our lead late in the 2nd period to give us a strong 2-0 lead heading into the final period. It was Mac’s first goal of the season and along with his 11 assists gives him 12 points total on the year.
Cole Lonsdale buried his 10th goal of the season just moments into the 3rd period and Edvards Bergmanis sealed the victory with an empty netter to send the boys home with a 4-3 victory and a weekend sweep.
Isaac Keller, Brayden Cook, Adyn Merrick, Nikita Nikora, and Bergmanis all had one assist in the game. Reid picked up his 7th win of the season by stopping 29 of 32 shots from the Jets.
By the Numbers:
- Head Coach Tyler Rennette moved into sole possession of 3rd place in Jr. Blues history for Most Wins by a Head Coach with our victory on Friday night – his 133rd victory. His record now sits at 133-114-19 in 266 games, five wins behind Nick Pollos (138) and ten wins away from Tony Curtale (143).
- With three assists this weekend Nikita Nikora now has 7 goals and 15 assists for 22 points and is tied with Cole Lonsdale (10 goals, 12 assists) for most on the Jr. Blues actively. Tyler Borgula, who is currently in the USHL, still has the overall lead with 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points prior to his call up.
- The Jr. Blues Power Play has steadily improved throughout the 2022-23 season. At Halloween time, our PP unit was at 13.9% but after this weekend we are now at 20% and sit in 11th overall in the league. We are 4th in the Midwest Division, but the three teams ahead of us are the top three teams overall in the entire NAHL.
- Landry Schmuck put on quite the performance in his debut behind the shield. In two games this weekend Schmuck scored two power play goals to increase his season total to 4 goals and 4 assists in 26 games played between the Aberdeen Wings, Oklahoma Warriors, and Jr. Blues.
Upcoming Games:
We are back home this Friday and Saturday as we host the Janesville Jets for the final time during the regular season! Doors open at 6 with puck drop at 7:05 on Friday and on Saturday doors open at 5 with puck drop at 6:05 pm. Get your tickets in advance by visiting tickets.jrblues.com today!
