Behind two goals from Spencer Zwiener and two goals Kevin Finley, Granite City downed Alexandria 8-4.
Zwiener scored the first of his two goals at 6:53 into the third period to make the score 5-3 Granite City. Andrej Jamnicky picked up the assist. Zwiener\’s next tally made the score 8-5 Granite City with 52 seconds left in the third period. Tanner Skaja assisted on the tally. Finley scored the first of his two goals on the power play at 3:53 into the second period to make the score 1-1. Granite City had gotten the advantage when Alexandria\’s Jack Cernohous was sent off for tripping. Zwiener picked up the assist. Finley\’s next tally on the power play made the score 3-2 Granite City with 17:03 left in the third period. Skaja assisted on the tally.
Granite City\’s penalty kill excelled, as Granite City gave up zero goals despite allowing six power plays.
Granite City stifled Alexandria\’s power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Granite City found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. Granite City has scored at the pace of 4.0 goals per game during the current campaign. The defensemen of Granite City were also effective in Alexandria\’s zone, and came away with two goals.
Granite City additionally got points from Jamnicky, who also registered one goal and one assist and Matthew Cowger, who also tallied one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Granite City included Braden Altena and John Suess, who scored one goal each. In addition, Granite City received assists from Zack Cole, who had one and Adam Marty and Mathew Sprink, who contributed two each.
Alexandria forced Granite City\’s goalies to work between the pipes, ripping 38 shots and forcing 34 saves. Mac Berglove made 27 stops and Nathan Isaacson made seven.
Alexandria was helped by Logan Nelson, who had two goals. Nelson scored the first of his two goals at 13:07 into the third period to make the score 6-4 Granite City. Mason Hautala picked up the assist. Nelson\’s next tally made the score 7-5 Granite City with 2:07 left in the third period. Alexandria also got points from Caleb Anderson, who also tallied one goal and one assist and AJ Gullickson, who also registered one goal and one assist. Alexandria also got a goal from Aaron Ryback as well. Other players who recorded assists for Alexandria were Tyler Frischmon, who had two and Trent Olson, Steven Gustafson, and Tony Arias, who each chipped in one.
Granite City totaled 19 minutes in penalty time with seven minors and one major and went 1-for-7 on the power play. Brey Effertz made 19 saves for Alexandria on 27 shots. Alexandria ended with 17 minutes in penalty time with six minors and one major.