CLOQUET — One night after winning for the second time in six games, the Austin Bruins got off to a slow start that proved costly in a 4-2 North American Hockey League loss against the Minnesota Wilderness on Friday.
The loss for the Bruins (8-13-4 overall) came on the heels of a 6-3 win at Chippewa on Thursday.
Against the Wilderness, though, the Bruins started slowly on both ends. Minnesota scored three first-period goals and never trailed.
Jacob Herter, Ethan Wolthers and Mikol Sartor scored in a 9-minute span in the opening period to give the Wilderness control of the game.
Austin tried to fight back, as Connor Mylymok scored 8:15 into the second to pull within 3-1.
That's how the score remained until Garrett Dahm notched his fifth goal of the season with 1:29 to play in the game. Minnesota's Gavin Rasmussen added an empty-net goal with 8 seconds remaining.
Austin outshot the Wilderness 36-22, but Minnesota goalie Kaleb Johnson made 34 saves to get the victory. Hudson Hodges lasted just 16:36 in goal for Austin, allowing three goals on six shots. Tyler Shea replaced him and stopped all 15 shots he faced.
The Wilderness (7-9-2) play at Austin at 7:05 p.m. tonight.
