Blizzard hockey: Alexandria ices Breezy Point

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By Eric Morken

emorken@echopress.com

Alexandria Blizzard head coach Jeff Crouse felt his inaugural team in the NA3HL could compete right off the bat coming into the season.

Three games into that stretch, he seems to be right. The Blizzard improved to 3-0 last Friday night with its third straight dominant performance in a 3-1 win on the road against Breezy Point.

Alexandria has outshot its opponents 111-42 through its first three games of the season. The Blizzard controlled the third period against the North Stars with a 16-3 shot advantage to finish with a 36-12 edge in that category.

Those scoring chances led to a 3-0 lead before Breezy Point finally got on the board almost seven minutes into the third period. Alexandria’s Garrett Skinner is proving early on that he’ll have no problem playing at the junior hockey level. He scored back-to-back goals in the second and third periods to break open the game against the North Stars.

Skinner is tied for the team lead in points with Ian Eckland through the first three games. Both have four points after Skinner’s two goals against Breezy Point gave him three scores early on this year.

Tanner Duffney got the Blizzard going in the opening period against Breezy Point with a goal less than 13 minutes into the game. The Alexandria defense and goaltender Kyle Miller then made sure the Blizzard could build a big lead as Miller stopped 11 of the 12 shots to pick up his third win of the season.

The Blizzard will look to stay undefeated this weekend with two more games on the road. Alexandria will travel east to take on Granite City tonight, Friday, with a 7:30 drop of the puck before heading to Little Falls to take on the Minnesota Flying Aces on Saturday night at 7:05.

GAME SUMMARY

ALEXANDRIA 1 1 1 – 3

BREEZY POINT 0 0 1 – 1

SHOTS – Alexandria – 11, 9, 16 – 36; Breezy Point – 5, 4, 3 – 12

SCORING – FIRST PERIOD – Alexandria – Duffney (Danny Pelzer), 12:42

SECOND PERIOD – Alexandria – Skinner (PPG) (Terry Leabo, Austin Rudnick), 16:25

THIRD PERIOD – Alexandria – Skinner (Levi Erickson, Danny Pelzer), 1:38; Breezy Point – Austin Williams (PPG) (Connor Cooley), 6:51

GOALTENDING – Alexandria – Miller – W, 11 saves, 12 shots; Breezy Point – Ian Shidlofsky – L, 33 saves, 36 shots

Eric Morken

Eric Morken started as a sports reporter for the Echo Press on July 9, 2007. He is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls where he majored in journalism and minored in history and communications. In his spare time, Morken enjoys hunting and fishing or just being in the outdoors. He is also an avid Minnesota sports fan. Follow Sports Reporter Eric Morken on Twitter at @echo_sports. Read Eric's sports blog, More with Morken at Areavoices.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, blizzard, hockey