Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues took full advantage of being back on home ice over the weekend and swept the Kenai River Brown Bears to pick up four crucial points in the standings.
Friday: SPR 4 – 2 KNR
Friday night saw the Jr. Blues get on the board early as forward Bobby Bartell would dance his way to the net on a beautiful individual effort and wrist a shot past Brown Bears goalie Conor Sullivan for his third goal of the season. With Jr. Blues defensemen Jake Peterson in the penalty box, Kenai forward Hayden Walters would get the equalizer on the power play to send the teams to the locker rooms tied 1-1.
The Jr. Blues would get off to another fast start in the second period when forward Zach Howard would put the good guys on top 2-1 with his 6th of the season off a nifty pass from Hadley Hudak. Springfield would find themselves down two men midway through the period and the Brown Bears were able to capitalize when Andy Larson would one time a feed from Kotaro Tsutsumi past Cataldo to even the score 2-2. Dylan Glinski would get the eventual game winner at 16:29 of the third period when he fired a shot over Sullivans right shoulder to give the Springfield a 3-2 lead. Landry Schmuch would add an empty net goal to put the game away.
Hadley Hudak, Aidan Dyer, and Andrew Schultz all picked up assists in the game and JJ Cataldo stopped 40 of 42.
Saturday: SPR 3 – 2 KNR
It was all Jr. Blues early on Saturday night as they jumped out to a 3-0. Jake Peterson got the scoring started in the first when Landry Schmuck found him in the slot, and he ripped a wrister past Brown Bears goaltender Marks Slavinskis. Hadley Hudak would make it 2-0 as he banged home his own rebound on the power play at 3:33 of the second period and Aidan Dyer would create a turnover in the neutral zone and fired a wrister over Slavinskis glove to make it 3-0 Jr. Blues at 13:11 of the second. Brown Bears Nick Stevens and Tiziano Pauchard would add goals to make it 3-2 but the Jr. Blues were able to hold on and secure the two points.
Landry Schmuck, Simzon Koch, and Anthony Ruklic (2) added assists in the game and JJ Cataldo was solid in net again stopping 29 of 31.
The Jr. Blues are back in action this weekend at home for a three-game series as the Anchorage Wolverines make their first and only visit to the Nelson Center this season. Below are details for our action-packed weekend of hockey:
Thursday December 14 – 7:05 PM: Presented by Coors Light
- $2 16oz Coors Light Drafts
Friday December 15 – 7:05 PM
- Happy Hour from 6-7 PM with GREAT drink specials
Saturday December 16 – 6:05 PM
- Holly the Holiday Bus will make an appearance at the Nelson Center
- ugly Christmas sweater contest
- Teddy Bear Toss
- Post Game skate with the team
Come on out to the Nelson Center this weekend for some fast-paced family fun!
