AUSTIN — The Austin Bruins are two games away from the midway point of the North American Hockey League regular season.
And though the coaching staff and a majority of the roster has turned over from a year ago, the Bruins are in a familiar position. After sweeping a two-game weekend series against Aberdeen, Austin sits alone in first place in the NAHL Central Division.
The Bruins (16-11-1 overall) worked their way back into first place with a convincing 5-1 win against the Wings (7-12-4) at Riverside Arena on Saturday.
Goalie Robbie Goor made 24 saves in his second start as a Bruin to improve to 2-0-0, while Dawson DiPietro led the way offensively with a goal and two assists.
Austin led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 after two.
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A.J. Drobot opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 1:01 into the game. Austin Rueschhoff's power-play goal at 10:28 made it 2-0.
Aberdeen cut its deficit in half early in the second period, when Tanner Okeson scored just 1:28 in, but Michael Piehler scored at the 12:50 mark for Austin.
Gilbert Gabor and DiPietro added goals 2:09 apart in the third period to seal the win for the Bruins.
Derek Olmschenk, Griff Slightam, Jan Stefka, Evan Cholak and Marcus Karlstrom had one assist each for Austin.
The Bruins are off this weekend, then wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule with a home game against the Minnesota Wilderness on Dec. 18 (7:05 p.m.) and a road game against Coulee Region on Dec. 19 (7 p.m.).
