ROCHESTER, MN – Every point matters in the second half of the season. The Rochester Grizzlies finally snapped their four-game losing skid, thanks to a three-point effort from Austin Meers, beating the St. Louis Jr. Blues 4-0 on home ice. Rochester now moves back into a tie for first place in the Central Division with the Oregon Tradesmen.
Facing a Jr. Blues team depleted with injuries and illness, Rochester started the scoring early. Meers found himself open in the slot for a beautiful pass from Luke Morrisette and beat St. Louis goalie Jordan Behnen high to the blocker side just 5:47 into the first. Ty Petzke added the secondary assist on Meers’ 13th of the season. At 17:59 of the first, Owen Van Tassel picked off a clearing attempt and beat Behnen five hole for an unassisted goal to make it 2-0.
Meers would find the back of the net for his second of the evening at 11:47 of the second, collecting his own rebound after an initial great save from Behnen. Ruslan Ospanov picked up the primary assist for his first point as a member of the Grizzlies. Petzke tallied his second assist of the evening. Just 31 seconds later, Maksim Lakick batted a puck out of mid-air past Behnen to make it 4-0 Rochester. Meers picked up the primary assist on the goal while Ospanov continued his strong night, adding the secondary assist.
The Grizzlies would go on to out-shoot the Jr. Blues 62-13, as Behnen was one of the stories of the game with his 58 saves, including some highlight-reel efforts. Tate Cothern picked up his third shutout of the season for Rochester.
Rochester wraps up the five-game home stand tomorrow evening against St. Louis with a 7:05 PM puck drop. The Grizzlies then head out for a four-game road trip with two games against Milwaukee and two against Peoria. Rochester now sits at 22-7-4 on the season.