Thursday Thrillers: Badlands Skates to a Shutout Win

Phoenix 7 @ Oklahoma City 3 - The Phoenix Inferno picked up another victory against the Oklahoma City Warriors Thursday afternoon at the Blazers Ice Centre. The Inferno started things off on the right foot when Camden Babin scored a shorthanded goal on an intercepted pass. Phoenix’s early lead continued to grow with Chase Olson bringing the score to 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. Not letting up, the Inferno struck again less than a minute into the middle frame with a goal from James Greenwood. Nicholas Nunez kept building on Phoenix’s unanswered advantage, making the score 4-0 halfway through the second period. Oklahoma City got on the board with six minutes left in the frame off a power-play goal from London McDougall. King McDougall kept the Warriors' flow going, scoring a wraparound goal with just over a minute left in the period, cutting the deficit to 4-2 at intermission. Moving into the final frame, the Inferno regained control, starting with a goal from Colin Digel. Phoenix kept adding to their advantage with a goal from Trevor Grazier and a power-play goal from Brayden MacMillan, widening their lead to 7-2. With time winding down, London McDougall tacked on one more goal for Oklahoma City in the final five minutes of play, leading to Phoenix’s 7-3 win. The Inferno outshot the Warriors every period, finishing with a 50-12 advantage through 60 minutes of action.

Badlands 7 @ Sheridan 0 - Goalie Parker Kelly and the Badlands Sabres shut out the Sheridan Hawks to secure a dominant 7-0 win. The start to the Badlands’ night came halfway through the first period when Oliver Giles found the back of the net. Giles followed that up six minutes later, scoring a power-play goal to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead. In the final minute of the opening frame, Randall Roblyer tallied one more goal for the Badlands, sending them into the break up 3-0. Jackson Hepper grabbed the first goal in the second period, sending the puck in from the boards. Dayton Niedert tacked on another goal, slipping the puck just through the slot on the power play, bringing the score to 5-0 going into the second intermission. Sheridan switched their goalie after Niedert’s goal, looking for any chance to stop further scoring opportunities. Niedert grabbed another goal early in the final frame on a breakaway opportunity. Matthew Cordis rounded out scoring for the Sabres, tacking on one more power-play goal with 15 minutes left of action. The team’s offenses went toe-to-toe on shots on goal, with the Badlands holding a slight 45-43 advantage.