OWATONNA — With a three-goal lead, the St. Louis Bandits appeared headed for a comfortable victory over the Owatonna Express on Thursday, but it wasn’t good enough for St. Louis coach Jeff Brown.
The first-year coach called a timeout and berated his team loud enough to be heard in every corner of the Four Seasons Centre. Whatever he said worked.
From that point on, the Bandits absolutely dominated and went on to beat Owatonna 5-0 for their fifth win in six games. After the timeout, St. Louis (22-6-3, 47 points) outshot Owatonna 14-3 and scored its final two goals, including a short-handed score by Jordan Bourgonie.
“Overall, this was a great game for us, but I just got done talking to the guys about the mistakes they made,” said Brown, who played 13 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. “We were up 3-0, but instead of making sure we played strong and finished the deal, we go brain dead and try to help the other team out.”
The specific series that brought out Brown’s anger in the third period was a two-shot flurry by the Express. On the play, Owatonna’s Jake Sloat fired a shot from the left side and the puck deflected off goalie Keith Kincaid across the front of the net. Chris Bournazos was wide open in front if the net and tried to knock the rebound in, but Kincaid dove across the net and knocked the shot away with his left arm.
“He was unbelievable tonight,” Brown said about Kincaid. “That certainly wasn’t a 5-0 game we just played. If it weren’t for him, the game would have been a lot closer.”
Kincaid finished with 27 saves and picked up his 15th victory and third shutout of the season. Kincaid was the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League rookie of the year two years ago and played in both the Atlantic Junior Hockey League and United States Hockey League last season.
“He’s pretty good,” Express coach Pat Cullen said. “Not to take anything away from him, but he’s got a pretty good corps of defensemen playing in front of him. They allow him to make the first stop, and then they don’t give up many rebounds.”
Owatonna (14-13-1, 29) struggled to keep up with the Bandits throughout the game, often having a hard time completing passes and getting open shots. The Express finished with 27 shots on goal, but never found a hole around Kincaid. It was the second time Owatonna has been shut out this season. The first was a 2-0 loss to Bismarck on Oct. 11.
“It was clear to me who the better team was tonight,” Cullen said. “They skate well, they move the puck, and they make it hard to do just about anything. There weren’t a lot of positives in this one tonight. We’ve got to strive to be just as good as St. Louis is.”
The Express have lost four of their last five, including three losses against the Bandits. St. Louis also beat Owatonna 7-3 and 6-3 two weeks ago in St. Louis. All-time, the Bandits are 11-2 against the Express.
Bandits 5, Express 0
St. Louis 1 2 2 — 5
Owatonna 0 0 0 — 0
First period—1, STL, Brendan Sheehan (Craig Kitto, Grant Gorczyca) 10:21. Penalties—Jake Sloat, Owatonna (checking from behind, 10 minute misconduct) 12:07.
Second period—2, Stl, Blake Edwards (Gorczyca, Kitto) 3:15 (pp); 3, Stl, Soren Jonzzon (Andrew Hamburg, Clint Bourbonais) 9:37. Penalties—Justin Kirchhevel, St. Louis (tripping) :17; Joe Beaudette, Owatonna (hooking) 2:50.
Third period—4, STL, Kirchhevel (Chris Ciotti, Greco) 12:20; 5, STL, Jordan Bourgonie, 17:10 (sh). Penalties—Michael Palmiscno, Owatonna (tripping) 1:52; Zach Tolkinen, Owatonna (holding) 7:30.
Shots on goal—St. Louis 9-9-16—34; Owatonna 12-9-6—27.
Power-play opportunities—St. Louis 1 of 4; Owatonna 0 of 2.
Goalies—St. Louis, Keith Kincaid (27 shots-27 saves); Owatonna, Jason Horstman (34-29). |
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