Aberdeen 5 @ Springfield 3 – The Aberdeen Wings took on the Springfield Jr. Blues, as Springfield looked to get their first win of the 2026 season. The first period opened with both defenses silencing offensive opportunities. The Jr. Blues would find the net first as James Marshall scored a power-play goal to give them the lead. Springfield goaltender Merik Grinaker showed out in the first period, saving ten shots. Cartyr Simonson added his name to the scoresheet as he drilled an even-strength goal with just seconds left in the first period, giving the Jr. Blues a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission while being outshot by Aberdeen 10-7. The Wings found their footing to start the second period, despite being a man down. Jonathan Doucette broke away and slotted a short-handed goal to cut Springfield’s lead in half. The Wings then saw a pair of opportunities on the power play, but Springfield’s penalty kill unit proved to be impressive, shutting down both chances. Aberdeen would eventually connect on offense with a quick wrist shot by Bradyn Strom for an even-strength equalizer. Strom’s goal was immediately followed by David Hruby scoring an even-strength goal of his own, giving the Wings their first lead of the night. Springfield found themself in more penalty trouble, but the penalty kill unit shut down two more power plays to conclude the second period. Aberdeen continued to apply pressure to start the third period. Payne Riffey scored an even-strength goal minutes into the frame to bring the Wing’s lead to two. The Wings continued to work smoothly on offense in hopes of closing out this game. Brody Dustin found the net with an even-strength goal to ride the Wing’s momentum. The Jr. Blues would not go down without a fight, as James Marshall fired one in for his second goal of the night. Aberdeen anchored down and finished the night with one final defensive stand, securing their 5-3 victory over Springfield. The Wings will look for a similar result against the New Jersey Titans on Friday, while the Jr. Blues will face the Ogden Mustangs.
Aberdeen 4 @ New Jersey 3 – The Aberdeen Wings steal a regulation victory against the New Jersey Titans after scoring a last-minute goal in the third period. The first period between these two started out at a slower pace, with each team unable to eclipse the double-digit shot mark. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any goals, as Gavin Lapolla would score a goal around the halfway mark, cutting through the defense in front of goaltender Willum Braun and putting home a backhand shot. The shot totals would ramp up in the latter half of the period, but both Braun and his New Jersey counterpart Andrew Bely would stand tall and not allow a goal in for the rest of the frame. Starting the second period, Aberdeen knew it had to ramp up the aggression to try to get a goal early. Bely would stop all that came his way early, but around the halfway mark, Aberdeen forward Cooper Siegert would score twice in a five-minute span to give Aberdeen its first lead of the game. The Wings would get into some penalty trouble, but that opened the door for penalty-killing forward Caeden Heins to score a short-handed goal, increasing the lead to two goals. Needing to answer, the Titans would cash in on a power play after Luke Schoen scored late in the period to help them go into the second intermission only down one goal. The third period started with both teams trying to find one more goal to swing momentum their way, and it would be New Jersey who found just that after forward Hayden Saad scored his third goal of the season. With that, he now has a four-game point streak. As the game was tied, both teams were trying not to give the other team any good looks at the net. With 18 seconds remaining in regulation and overtime looming, Jonathan Doucette would redirect a puck past Bely on a designed pass from Broden Hontvet to break the tie. While New Jersey would pull the goalie and get pressure in the offensive zone for the remainder of the game, Aberdeen would hang on and pick up the regulation victory. Siegert (2G) and Hiens (1G, 1A) led Aberdeen in scoring while Braun had an .864 save percentage and picked up the victory. Schoen (1G, 1A) led New Jersey with two points, and Bely stopped 28 out of 32 shots in the loss.
Kenai River 4 @ Aberdeen 5 (SO) – The Aberdeen Wings battle back to a shootout victory over the Kenai River Brown Bears. The contest opened with the Brown Bears controlling the opening frame after Aberdeen found twine first. Filip Henriksson showed up on the scoresheet first with his first tally of the season a little over three minutes into the contest. The Brown Bears would go on to score three straight goals to have the advantage into the middle frame thanks to Karim Kazhibekov, Filip Kinter, and Braden Hansberger. In the second period, the Wings would light the lamp quickly into the frame, thanks to a tally by Brody Dustin. Kenai River later in the middle frame doubled their lead off a tally by Oliver Pietras. As the matchup moved into the last period of regulation, the Wings got to work and were able to even the score thanks to two back-to-back goals by Filip Henriksson and Melker Hof. The matchup would move into overtime and an eventual shootout. It would take seven rounds for the Aberdeen Wings to eventually be lifted to a shootout victory. The Aberdeen skater who delivered for the South Dakota club was Filip Henriksson with a shootout goal. The Wings continued their winning ways at the NAHL Showcase and secured a sweep while in Blaine, Minnesota.
The Wings are back in action this Friday and Saturday night at the Odde Ice Center when they take on the Austin Bruins in a rematch of last years Central Division Championship series. Tickets are on sale now at all C-Express locations, Tickets.AberdeenWings.com or on game days at the Lincoln Repair Box Office, located inside the Odde Ice Center!
