The Milwaukee Power were at home this past weekend to play host to the Alexandria Blizzard. The Power had played the Blizzard in Alexandria back in October with the Blizzard sweeping the weekend. The Blizzard sit in fourth place in the West Division with a playoff spot locked up while the Power sit fifth in the Central trying to chase down the Cyclones for a post season berth.
On Saturday evening Kaden Grant would make his third start in net for the Power and Joey Greilich would suit up for the Blizzard. The first period saw the Power heavily outshot 17-6 and the Blizzard would grab the lead on a power play goal that was tipped by Justin Wasvick. Milwaukee was fortunate that Alexandria wasn’t able to capitalize again and only trailed by one after the first. The Blizzard would maintain their lead through the majority of the second frame before Riley Planey was able to tie the game off the rush beating Greilich glove side, Trent Van Gels and Mason Ausmus would get the assists.
After 14 penalties between the two sides in the first 40 minutes, the third would see no infractions as they battled to grab the lead. With just four minutes remaining the Power’s newest addition, Marshall Walker, would bury a rebound to give Milwaukee their first lead of the night, Patrick Toomey and Cam Dahl were credited with the assists. With under two minutes remaining the Blizzard would pull Greilich for an extra skater and would tie the game with just 32 seconds to go on a Matt McIntyre goal. The score would stay tied at the end of regulation and the game would head to overtime.
Both sides created chances in the three on three overtime but the five minutes wasn’t enough to break the tie. In the shootout the Blizzard would shoot first starting with McIntyre and he was denied by Grant’s glove. Ausmus would shoot first for Milwaukee and was able to put one through five-hole on Greilich. Alex Heidenreich was up next for the Blizzard but couldn’t elevate the puck over Grant’s left pad which gave Toomey the chance to ice the game. He would take a similar approach as Ausmus and score five-hole to give Milwaukee their 13th win of the season.
Master Printwear 3 Stars of the Game:
3rd Star – Marshall Walker
2nd Star – Mason Ausmus
1st Star – Kaden Grant
Coach’s Pub ‘N’ Grill Hard Hat – Nate Stone
On Sunday afternoon the Power would start Spencer Northway in goal and the Blizzard started Andrew Tuttle. The first period was a flurry of shots as the notched 20 and the Blizzard 17. Milwaukee opened the scoring as Planey scored his second goal of the weekend unassisted. Charlie Larsen would score for the Blizzard on the power play to tie the game and then less than two minutes later they would grab the lead on an Ethan Moerke goal. Less then a minute later Nate Stone would tie the game unassisted and the score would remain that way till the end of the period.
The Blizzard would grab the lead in the second on a Wasvick power play goal. They would increase their lead late in the frame on a Cole Klingbeil goal. The Blizzard would gain some more insurance early in the third with a tally from Gavin Carlson. Milwaukee would get a power play chance late and Connor O’Neal would capitalize with a tip to cut the deficit to two, Max Erstad and Ausmus would get the assists. Alexandria would stretch their lead back to three on a Heidenreich goal and set the final score of 6-3 in the Blizzard’s favor.
Ultimately it was a good weekend for Milwaukee because the Cyclones lost both their games in regulation and with the win on Saturday the Power inched to within eight points of them. The next three games are as close to must win for the Power as can be since they are against the Cyclones. If the Power win two out of three they still have a chance to catch them but they would need to win out and get some help from the rest of the Cyclones schedule. The first game is on Friday the 18th at 7:00PM at the Ozaukee Ice Center.
