By WJBC Staff
BLOOMINGTON – Jake Durflinger netted his first multi-goal game of the season, but the Bloomington Thunder’s third-period comeback fell short in 3-2 loss to the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
The Thunder (13-12-3-0, 29 pts) fell behind 3-0 less than a minute into the third period, but battled back with a pair of goals in the final six minutes to draw within one. But after pulling goaltender Gabe Mollot-Hill for an extra attacker, Bloomington couldn’t get the equalizer in the final 1:45.
It was the alternate captain Durflinger who nearly singlehandedly pulled the Thunder back even with the Fighting Saints (19-9-1-1, 40 pts). Dubuque netminder Jaxon Castor had stymied the Thunder through the first two and a half periods, but Durflinger and the Thunder offense finally solved him with their 29th shot of the game. With 6:14 left in the third period, Durflinger redirected Wyatt Kalynuk’s initial blast from the right point to get the Thunder on the board and cut the deficit to 3-1.
As the game rolled into the last five minutes, Bloomington continue to put pressure on Dubuque in a period that saw the Thunder outshoot the Fighting Saints 10-7. It was Durflinger who struck again to whittle the lead down to one thanks to a great setup from captain Tarek Baker. From his knees, Baker managed to spin and fire a shot from the right circle. Castor made the initial save, but Durflinger was standing on the doorstep to slam the rebound home with 1:45 remaining.
But despite outshooting the Fighting Saints 34-31 and having several chances in the final 105 seconds, the Thunder couldn’t find the back of the net one more time.
In the middle game of a three-game weekend, the Thunder fell in a 2-0 hole after the first two periods of play. Austin Rueschhoff opened the scoring at 14:17 of the first period and Zach Solow tacked on an even strength goal at the 11:07 mark of the second period to double the edge.
Colin Theisen potted the eventual game-winner just 53 seconds into the third period.
In the loss, Gabe Mollot-Hill stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced, while the Thunder held the league’s second-best power-play scoreless on four chances.
Bloomington completes the three-game weekend with a home matchup against the Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday. Saturday night is the Thunder’s first-ever Wiener Dog Derby presented by Fields Petcare. The first 300 fans get a bag of dog treats and the first 500 get a coupon to Fields Petcare. There is also a $2 hotdog special during the game, while supplies last. Tickets start at just $10.
