ROCHESTER, Minn. – It was already a special night at the Rochester Recreation Center. The Grizzlies held their inaugural Pink in the Rink Night, partnering with Mayo Clinic for the game. The players on the ice did their part, too, as the Grizzlies came away with a 4-0 victory over the Breezy Point North Stars. The win ended a four game skid for the Grizzlies.
Nick Bucklin earned the start in net for the Grizzlies after Liam Kelly got the nod Friday against Alexandria. Neither team were able to crack the scoreboard in the first period as both Bucklin and his counterpart Jake MacLennan stopped every shot they saw. MacLennan faced 17 shots in net in the first.
The second period finally saw a goal. Richard Szabo scored his 19th goal of the season to break the ice. Lucas Newman picked up the lone assist. The Grizzlies put up 17 shots again in that period, continuing to dominate Breezy Point in that category. Shots through two period were 34-16 in favor of Rochester.
Rochester opened it up in the third period as Hunter Hall scored his second goal in as many games, roofing one short side past MacLennan. The goal came at the 6:32 mark of the third with Oskar Stahl picking up the assist. The Grizzlies kept their foot on the gas pedal the rest of the way, adding two more goals in the third period to cap it off. Vladislav Sorokin made a nice move to elude a couple defenders and beat MacLennan with a wrist shot just above the face-off circles. Newman picked up his second assist of the game. Matt DeRosa scored an empty net goal with 4:06 to go in the first to finish it off for Rochester.
Bucklin went on to stop all 30 shots he faced in net, earning his second shutout of the season. The Grizzlies put up 52 shots on net just compared to 30 for the North Stars. With the win, Rochester improves to 26-14-1-0 (53 points) on the season, still sitting in third place in the West Division. The Grizzlies are back in action next Friday taking on the North Iowa Bulls from the Rochester Rec Center. Puck drop is set for 7:05.