The St. Louis Jr. Blues survived a determined comeback attempt by the Chicago Junior Bulldogs on the way to an 8-7 win.
St. Louis made the score 6-2 on a goal by Trevor Thornton at 11:46 in the second period, and Chicago got as close as 8-7 when Toms Taurins scored 13:06 into the third period.
The Jr. Blues was paced on offense by Franky Melton and Chris Brown, who combined for eight points. Melton registered two goals and two assists and Brown also notched one goal and three assists.
St. Louis forced the Junior Bulldogs goalie Sam Harden to work between the pipes, taking 39 shots. The Jr. Blues found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. This season, St. Louis averages 3.1 goals per contest. The Jr. Blues\’ penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as St. Louis finished with 24 penalty minutes.
St. Louis also got points from Brown, who also grabbed one goal and three assists, Adam Havener, who also finished with one goal and one assist, Jason Loraine, who also registered one goal and one assist, and Alex Klaesner, who also racked up one goal and two assists. Steven Farina also scored for St. Louis. In addition, St. Louis received assists from Ryan Reader, who had one, Zane OBryan, who had two, and Sam Maddox, who had four.
Chicago racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 12 minors and one major for 69 minutes in penalty time. The Junior Bulldogs surpassed its season average of 31.0 penalty minutes per game. Chicago kept the Jr. Blues\’ goalie busy throughout the game, and Cooper Cothran made 36 saves on 43 shots. The Junior Bulldogs surpassed their usual scoring output this season. Chicago averages 3.7 goals per game.
The Junior Bulldogs were led by Scott Coash Jr, who had two goals. Coash Jr scored the first of his two goals short handed at 8:29 into the second period to make the score 4-2 St. Louis. A charging call on Tyler Seltenriech put Chicago on the penalty kill. Coash Jr\’s next tally short handed made the score 8-6 St. Louis with 9:32 left in the third period. Chris Fiordirosa picked up the assist. Chicago also had goals scored by Scott Schroeder, Michael Ellis, Dane Kalas, and Niko Moulakelis, who scored one goal each. More assists for Chicago came via Noah Carter, who had one.
St. Louis registered four goals on 12 power play opportunities. The Junior Bulldogs\’ Harden stopped 31 shots out of the 39 that he faced. Chicago registered one goal on four power play opportunities. For the Junior Bulldogs, Seltenriech was ejected from the game.
