Blaze take second straight in Dayton
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio - The Bloomington Blaze, presented by Mid-Illini Credit Union, never trailed as they picked up a 4-2 win over the Dayton Gems on Thursday night at Hara Arena.
Bloomington opened the scoring on a goal credited to Luke Popko, when the Gems failed to clear their zone and the puck bounced into their net with 11:21 remaining in the opening period. The Blaze extended the lead to 2-0 with only 19.6 seconds left in the opening chapter when Ryan Palmer found the upper right corner from the right wing for his second goal, assisted by Jerry Pollastrone.
The Blaze opened the lead to 3-0 when Brandon Richardson scored his first Blaze goal from the right wing on a feed from Travis Granbois, also assisted by Jerry Pollastrone, with 14:38 left in the second period. That goal ended the night for Gems netminder Mark Sibbald, who was replaced in goal by Larry Sterling. The Gems broke onto the board with 3:58 remaining in the middle period on a shorthanded goal by David Nimmo, assisted by Nick Schneider and Jonathan Ornelas.
The Gems cut the deficit to 3-2 when Brandon Naurato scored on Dayton's fourth power play of the third period with 4:45 remaining in regulation. Brodie Sheahan sealed the win with a wraparound goal with 1:16 remaining, assisted by Jerry Pollastrone and Luke Popko.
Zane Kalemba improved to 13-13-2 in the Blaze net behind 33 saves. The Gems outshot the Blaze 35-33. The Blaze improve to 16-24-4 and have earned points in three straight games, while the Gems fall to 15-22-8.