A hat trick by Franky Melton was the highlight in Jr. Blues\’ 7-3 win against the La Crosse Freeze.
Melton got on the scoresheet 18:45 into the first period. He then added goals at 16:12 into the second and at 14:48 into the third.
The St. Louis Jr. Blues outdid their season average for goals scored. St. Louis has scored at the pace of 3.6 goals per game during the current campaign.
St. Louis additionally got points from Cameron Brown, who also grabbed two goals and two assists. St. Louis also had goals scored by Daniel Dunaway and Andrew Wingbermuehle, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for St. Louis were Zane OBryan, who had two, Tommy Heinzman, who had four, and Trevor Thornton, Chris Brown, Kevin Laplante, and Steven Farina, who each chipped in one.
La Crosse put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Jr. Blues to score on any of their three power plays.
The Freeze were helped by Colton Jones, who tallied one goal. Jones scored 10:55 into the second period to make the score 3-2 St. Louis. Ethan Stafford provided the assist. Others who scored for La Crosse included Jake Lipski and Austin Moser, who each put in one. In addition, La Crosse received assists from Jared Bromberg, Taylor Trapp, and Brit Brothen, who contributed one each.
St. Louis\’ William Hindle stopped 27 shots out of the 30 that he faced. The Jr. Blues incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors. Cameron Scheuren made 19 saves for La Crosse on 25 shots. The Freeze incurred six minutes in penalty time with three minors.
