BROOKINGS – The Blizzard drew first blood and led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes, but couldn’t hold on in a 3-1 Central Division loss to the MN Wilderness on Friday night at Larson Ice Center.
Johnny Johnson set up Shane Hathaway’s goal with 7:34 left in the first period and then the Blizzard fought off nearly back-to-back power-plays over the final 4 1/2 minutes for the one-goal advantage after one.
Aaron Myers lit the lamp for the Wilderness off assists from C.J. Regula and Gino Lucia five minutes into the second period to tie the game, and then, Isaac Kobienia cashed in on a power-play opportunity to give the visitors a 2-1 lead through two periods.
Luke Dow added an insurance goal on another power-play with less than three minutes to play in the game as Kobenia picked up the helper.
Ryan Fanti earned the win in goal with 24 saves as Jack Caruso suffered the loss after stopping 23 shots.
The Wilderness improved to 5-4-1-0, while Brookings dropped to 1-7-1-1.
The teams square off again tonight at LIC with the puck dropping at 7:05.
