The Blaine Bengals are trying to prove that they are a top-2 team in the State and they proved that tonight with a dominating win over the Andover Huskies. They scored 5 goals and put 50 shots on net, compared to Andover’s one goal and 20 shots. The Bengals could of had a much higher scoreline, but Andover’s goalie had a couple impressive glove saves.

The Bengals started the period right and were dominating very early in the game, but junior Lincoln Erne was sent to the box for cross checking, only two minutes in. On the powerplay, Andover’s offense was dull, allowing senior Riley Tufte to receive an excellent pass in the neutral zone and fly to the net with blazing speed, beating all the defenders, and dekeing the goalie, but was stopped at the last second by the goalie’s pad. The Blaine powerkill unit was excellent, so they easily killed the powerplay.

The Bengals continued to dominate after the powerplay expired, and were helped by an interference penalty against Andover. The powerplay expired with no Bengal goal. The Bengals showed impressive puck movement, but could not get a solid shot off, in front of the net or at the point.

At the 8:41 mark, Tufte received a great pass senior linemate Luke Notermann, and put the puck top shelf. Notermann and Tufte have combined for 81 points and are leading the Class 2A scoring charts, respectively. They are definitely the best duo in the state.

The Bengals went on the powerplay a minute later, but the penalty expired with no significant Blaine shots. Then, with 6:30 to play, Erne went to the box again and gave Andover the powerplay. The Huskies capitalized quickly off a rebound to tie the game 1-1. Junior Max Bautch went to the box at the end of the period, but Andover’s powerplay unit was lackluster and did not have many chances.

Shots were 9-13 Blaine at the end of the First Period.

The Second Period started with a bang when Notermann scored off the rebound of Tufte’s shot, a quick 39 seconds in. The straw broke the camel’s back, and Blaine started to dominate all ends of the ice. Any Andover puck movement was quickly stifled by Blaine.

Blaine went on the powerplay three minutes later. Andover dumped the puck, so defensemen Erne skated from the Blaine net to the Andover net and passed it back to the waiting senior Griffin Fussy, who promptly tapped it in to put the Bengals up by 2.

The rest of the period played out like the Bengals were on the powerplay, even though Blaine senior Patrick Buck went to the box twice in a 5 minute span. All the Andover powerplays were killed off, and Blaine controlled the game, always making Andover backcheck. Blaine also put a lot of shots on net in the Second Period.

Shots were 15-32 Blaine at the end of the Second Period.

The Third Period carried the physical tone of the previous periods. Big men like Tufte and junior Max Bautch made some big hits on the smaller Andover players. Also notable was the Blaine’s forecheck. The puck was in the Andover zone the whole period.

At the 9:81 mark, senior Blake Nastrom put the Bengals up by 3 by burying a juicy rebound from the Andover goalie. A minute later, Tufte went on another breakaway, but was stopped by an excellent glove save.

Notermann had the finishing touch when he scored an amazing–almost horizontal–goal. The Andover goalie was out of place, but Notermann managed to snipe it at a sharp angle. With only 4 minutes left, and no point in running the score, the Bengals started to give the backups some shifts.

The Huskies received a powerplay late in the game, but could not score, securing the 5-1 win for Blaine. Shots were 50-20 Blaine.

The Bengals are now 4-0 since their loss to Anoka. Goalie Ridge Gerads has played excellently, and the first line combination of Tufte-Notermann-Bautch is scoring lots of goals.

The Bengals travel to Maple Grove on the 9th; the Crimson are 6-9 and have faced some tough competition, so look for it to be a great game!