Rookie scores OT winner for Bruins a week after losing close friend to cancer

Apr. 21—AUSTIN — Jackson Luther didn't have time to think, he just reacted.

Austin Bruins defenseman Bryan Gilman found Luther alone in the slot 4:35 into overtime here Friday at Riverside Arena. Gilman put the puck on Luther's tape. Luther instinctively fired it toward the top of the net.

The puck hit the crossbar and dropped quickly into the net for the winning goal of Game 1 of a best-of-5 North American Hockey League Central Division semifinal playoff series. Austin earned a 4-3 victory against the Minot (N.D.) Minotauros, after allowing Minot to score twice in the final two minutes of regulation to force OT.

And when Luther, a 19-year-old rookie forward for the Bruins from Columbia City, Ind., he had a sense of relief, and a smile that represented more than just what he called one of the biggest goals of his life.

"It's pretty special because — not a lot of people know this — but Jackson just

lost a dear friend

, a hockey player from back home, Braydin Lewis," said Bruins head coach Steve Howard. "(Lewis) was battling cancer and he just passed (last Saturday, April 15)."

Luther and Lewis played together for the Chicago Fury 16U AAA program in 2019-20. Lewis had played the past three seasons for the Metro Jets (Mount Clemens, Mich.) of the United States Premier Hockey League.

"Those two were really good friends," Howard said. "Jackson said he didn't even look (when he shot for the winning goal). He just shot, he wasn't aiming. I think Braydin had a little to do with that shot going in."

While the Bruins still need two victories to win the series against Minot, Luther's teammates celebrated with and for him, knowing what it means to him to score an overtime winner in the playoffs.

"Oh, he's been working so hard and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more," said Bruins alternate captain Gavin Morrissey, a Minnesota State University, Mankato commit. "He's been really going through it lately and just to see him get it, it's a great accomplishment for him and he really deserves it because of all of his hard work."

Luther's goal is his eighth in 45 games as a Bruin and just his second in more than two months.

His role hasn't been to score, though. It's been to bring energy and be defensively sound. He was listed as Austin's fourth-line center Friday night, in the middle of the Brassard twins, Isaak and Matys, who are known as energy players.

"It's been kind of off-and-on, being scratched or just trying to find my way into the lineup, for most of the season," said Luther, who played the past two seasons for the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies U18 AAA program in Michigan. "Right now I'm just finding my rhythm, staying in the lineup, doing as much as I can, playing defensively and helping the team out as much as I can."

It took only a matter of minutes for Friday's game to feel like a playoff game. Consider the following:

—It was the fifth time in 15 days that the Bruins and Minotauros had faced each other, after meeting in the final four games of the regular season.

—The teams have now faced each other 13 times this year. Saturday's Game 2, at 7:05 p.m. at Riverside, will be their 14th match up of the season and sixth in 16 days.

—The officiating in Friday's Game 1 was inconsistent at best — maddeningly inconsistent for Bruins players and coaches — as the four-man crew, which included referees Grant Hendrich and Anthony Vikhter called 88 minutes worth of penalties. They called 11 penalties against Austin for 43 minutes, and seven against Minot for 35 minutes.

Bruins defenseman and alternate captain Nate Looft was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct after the first period for cross-checking, just minutes after being cross-checked behind his own net on a play in which no penalty was called. On the play that Looft was ejected for, Minot's Trevor Stachowiak was given just a two-minute minor for roughing, though he initiated the contact with Looft directly in front of the Bruins' bench after the buzzer had sounded to end the first period.

Just 25 minutes into the game, the Minotauros had been on six power plays. Austin had been on one.

"It was one of those tough games where you have to battle through adversity," Howard said. "We did it time and time again. I'm just excited to end it in OT.

"You just have to flush it, you really do. You just have to go shift by shift."

One bright spot for the Bruins amid all of the penalties was the play of their penalty killers and goalie Trent Wiemken (31 saves).

Austin held Minot to a 2-for-8 effort on the power play, including killing off three 5-on-3 Tauros advantages.

"Our penalty kill, (assistant coach) Justin Fisher runs that and does a good job with it," Howard said. "All the guys were laying out, sacrificing, blocking shots. Your goaltender has to be your best killer and he certainly was tonight. It's ... special teams is big. We have to come back ready to go tomorrow."

Friday's win marked Austin's first playoff win since April 19, 2019, Game 3 of a division semifinal series against Aberdeen, at Riverside Arena. It also marked the Bruins' first win in Game 1 of a postseason series since April 13, 2018, a 2-1 win against the Minnesota Wilderness in a division semifinal series.

And Friday's victory came after Austin let a 3-1 lead and the momentum slip away in the final two minutes of regulation, when Minot scored twice to tie it and force OT.

"We definitely didn't panic," Morrissey said. "There's lots of ups and downs in the playoffs. You just gotta stay even-keel. Even though we were (feeling) down, we didn't panic and we remained confident going into overtime."

FIRST PERIOD

—Austin 1, Minot 0: Jimmy Goffredo (Walter Zacher, Dylan Cook) 8:40. The Bruins held the zone for most a power play and finally cashed in when Zacher left a drop pass for Goffredo in the right circle and the UMass-Lowell commit fired it past Minot goalie Noah Rupprecht's blocker.

SECOND PERIOD

—Minot 1, Austin 1: Hunter Longhi (Weston Knox, Chase LaPinta) :48. Minot finally scores, on its fifth power play of the game, as Knox feeds Longhi in the slot during a 4-on-3. Longhi — Minot's leading scorer and an American International commit — doesn't miss, putting it past Wiemken's blocker to tie the score.

—Austin 2, Minot 1: Zacher (Josh Giuliani, Gavin Morrissey) 18:47. Austin holds the zone on a power play and works the puck around the left side of the ice, setting up Giuliani's back door feed to Zacher, who buries his 33rd goal of the season and first of the playoffs to give Austin the lead again.

THIRD PERIOD

—Austin 3, Minot 1: Zacher (Morrissey, Cook) 13:42. The Bruins get their third power-play goal of the game. Morrissey shows great patience, holding the puck in the left circle, waiting for a shooting lane. He finally gets it, Rupprecht makes the save but the rebound goes directly to Zacher who scores into an open side of the net — his second of the game, 34th of the season.

—Austin 3, Minot 2: Braden Fischer (Trevor Stachowiak, Knox) 18:02. While on a power play, Minot pulls Rupprecht for an extra attacker and it pays off immediately, as Fischer bats in a rebound of Stachowiak's shot.

—Minot 3, Austin 3: LaPinta (Knox) 18:33. The Tauros immediately regained possession of the puck after Fischer's goal, allowing Rupprecht to head to the bench for an extra attacker. Knox fires a shot from the left circle that hits Wiemken awkwardly and drops right to LaPinta, who lifts it high into the net to tie the score and quiet the vocal Riverside Arena crowd.

OVERTIME

—Austin 4, Minot 3: Jackson Luther (Bryan Gilman): Gilman, who dressed as the seventh defenseman and was thrust into a bigger role when Nate Looft was ejected after the first period, sent a pinpoint pass to Luther — the Bruins' fourth-line center — in the slot. Luther didn't think, he reacted and his shot went bar-down to win the game 4:35 into the extra period. Gilman made a great play at the blue line to hold the zone, skated the puck down the wall, then fed Luther to his left.

—No. 1: Walter Zacher, Austin. The Bruins' record holder for goals in a regular season added two to his career total, giving him 34 for the season.

—No. 2: Jackson Luther, Austin. The rookie forward scored what he called one of the biggest goals of his life, firing a shot bar-down from the slot 4:35 into OT to win it for Austin.

—No. 3: Gavin Morrissey, Austin. The alternate captain and Minnesota State University, Mankato, commit, had two assists and played a key role on the penalty kill for the Bruins, who held Minot to a 2-for-8 night with the man advantage.

BRUINS 4, TAUROS 3

Minot 0-1-2-0 — 3

Austin 1-1-1-1 — 4

First period — 1. AUS, Jimmy Goffredo 1 (Walter Zacher 1, Dylan Cook 1) 8:40 (pp). Second period — 2. MNT, Hunter Longhi 1 (Weston Knox 1, Chase LaPinta 1) :48 (pp, 4x3). 3. AUS, Zacher 1 (Josh Giuliani 1, Gavin Morrissey 1) 18:47 (pp). Third period — 4. AUS, Zacher 2 (Morrissey 2, Cook 2) 13:42 (pp). 5. MNT, Braden Fischer 1 (Trevor Stachowiak 1, Knox 2) 18:02 (pp). 6. MNT, Chase LaPinta 1 (Knox 3) 18:33 (ex). Overtime — 7. AUS, Jackson Luther 1 (Bryan Gilman 1) 4:35.

Shots on goal — MNT 6-12-13-3 — 34; AUS 8-7-10-5 — 30. Goalies — MNT, Noah Rupprecht (L, 0-1; 26 saves-30 shots); AUS, Trent Wiemken (W, 1-0; 31 saves-34 shots). Power-play opportunities — MNT 2-for-8;AUS 3-for-4. Penalties — MNT 7-35 minutes; AUS, 11-43 minutes.