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After playing three games in four days last week at the NAHL Showcase, the Austin Bruins (4-0-0-0) are gearing up for three games in as many days this weekend.

The Bruins open up at home on Friday and Saturday against the Minot Minotauros (1-2-0-0) before heading up the road to Forest Lake for a Sunday matchup against the Minnesota Mallards (3-2-0-0). 

The Bruins left Blaine last week with a perfect record after a 6-1 win over the Elmira Aviators, a 4-1 victory versus the New Hampshire Mountain Kings and a 2-1 OT thriller against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. 

Austin goaltender Jack Solomon earned NAHL Central Division Central Star of the Week for his performance at the Showcase, notching two wins while allowing just two goals and stopping 37 of 39 shots he faced. 

Luc Malkhassian paced the way for the Bruins with six points across three appearances netting two goals vs Elmira and serving up four assists, including the game winner to Alex Laurenza versus New Mexico. 

Austin’s penalty kill continued its dominance, successfully killing off all ten penalties faced throughout the Showcase. 

Emil Samuelsson and Connor Beckwith took it a step further as the two forwards each scored shorthanded goals in Blaine. 

Friday marks the first meeting between Minot and Austin since the Minotauros swept the Bruins in the first round of the NAHL Central Division a season ago. The Tauros opened up their season with a resounding 6-1 victory against the USNTDP before dropping games two and three to El Paso and Springfield, respectively. In the all-time series, Minot leads the Bruins 63-48-9. 

The last meeting between the Bruins and Mallards was last month’s 3-2 preseason victory at Riverside arena. Minnesota opened their season with a split series against the St. Cloud Norsemen before taking two-out-of-three games at the Showcase. The Central Division newcomer has their work cut out for them as they make the trek to Bismarck to play two against the undefeated Bobcats before making the six and a half hour trip back to Forest Lake for Sunday’s meeting. 

Tickets for Friday and Saturday’s games can be purchased online by visiting tickets.austinbruins.com. 

All games this weekend can be viewed on NATV at nahltv.com with David Koier providing play-by-play commentary.