Fairbanks, Alaska – Two goals by Anthony Ruklic and a five-point night from Isaac Keller made the difference as the Springfield Jr. Blues rolled past the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 5-1 at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, AK.
The Ice Dogs came out of the gates hard and peppered Jr. Blues goaltender JJ Cataldo with 16 shots and he turned them all aside keeping his team in the game. Trey Jefferis gave the Jr. Blues the lead with his fourth goal of the season at 13:56 and that is the way the first period would end.
Period two was all Jr. Blues as Anthony Ruklic scored his second goal of the season at 15:21 and Andrew Schultz potted his first goal on the year at 18:14 to give the good guys a 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.
The third period was fast and exciting as both teams would have great scoring chances early. Ruklic would score his second goal of the game midway through the final period to give the Jr. Blues a commanding 4-0 lead. Marc Lund would strike on a power play for the Ice Dogs at 14:38 and Hadley Hudak would add an insurance marker with under two minutes remaining in the game to give Springfield a 5-1 lead. Goaltender JJ Cataldo picked up his fourth win of the season and stopped 39 of 40 shots. Isaac Keller had 5 assists while Schultz and Andon Coles picked up a pair of assists each.
The win moves the Jr. Blues record to 4-8-2-0 on the season and improves the win streak to four games. Springfield will travel to Kenai River for a three-game set against the Brown Bears beginning on Thursday. You can catch all the action live on NAHLTV.
