Austin players battling for titles, eyes of Division I scouts

That's approximately 2,000 players potentially thrown into the recruiting pool who previously wouldn't have been eligible to play college hockey in the U.S.

The longer Austin's season goes, the more opportunities could come for its players. The NCAA men's hockey transfer portal closes at the end of next week. As it becomes picked over and college teams still have holes to fill on their rosters, players like Paddington and Bruins teammates Gavin Hruza and Mikey Coleman — among others — could begin to hear from Division I coaches.

"With the new landscape, it's getting tougher and tougher to find Division I spots for our guys," Howard said. "Three years ago, E.J. Paddington would have been off the board long ago. He's one guy we're working for. ... Hopefully a few guys get something before the year is over."

Game 2 of the Bruins-Shamrocks division semifinal series is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Arena. Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4 are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts on April 24 and 25, at Watertown. A decisive Game 5, if needed, will be back at Riverside Arena at 7:05 p.m. April 27.

Austin won the Central Division regular season title with a 43-12-4 overall record, the second-best record among the NAHL's 34 teams, behind only East Division champion Maryland (49-6-4). Watertown earned the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central with a 31-23-5 mark.

Here are 4 other items to know as the NAHL Central Division playoffs begin:

The Bruins don't have No. 1 and No. 2 goaltenders. They don't even have a 1-A and 1-B.

This season, Austin has No. 1 goalie Jack Solomon and No. 1 goalie Cody Butikis.

The talented duo has split time nearly equally and both are in the top-15 in the league in wins, goals-against average and save percentage. When both have been at full health, they have split the net nearly every weekend, one playing Friday night, the other playing Saturday. Solomon — an Air Force commit — has played in 30 games. Butikis has played in 29.

"You see those guys, they go out, they battle every night," Bruins leading goal scorer E.J. Paddington said. "They come up with big saves in timely situations. To win a championship, you need play like that."

The 6-2, 190-pound Solomon, 24-5-0, leads the league in GAA (1.85), has the fourth-most wins in the NAHL, and the second-best save percentage (.934). The St. Louis native is also second in the league with six shutouts.

Butikis (6-3, 214) ranks 11th in the league in GAA (2.39), 14th in save percentage (.914) and wins (19).

"It's pretty big having those two back there," second-year Bruins forward Gavin Hruza said. "It allows us to play with confidence. The little mistakes, we don't want to make them, but even if we do, we know they're back there to shut down anything that gets through. It's an unreal feeling to have that support on the back end."

Some of the Bruins best teams in recent years have had featured a pair of brothers, sometimes twin brothers. When Austin made its run to the 2023 Robertson Cup final, twins Matys and Isaak Brassard were physical tone-setters. Last season, Austin featured brothers Luc and Evan Malkhassian, who combined for 40 goals and 117 points.

This season, the Bruins had to go all the way to Belarus to find some twin brothers, and what a find they have been. Matsvei and Siamion Marshchanok are 5-9, 165-pound, 21-year-old forwards from Minsk and they are in their third full season of playing in North America.

Siamion finished third in the NAHL in scoring with 87 points, including 30 goals. Matsvei finished fifth in the league in scoring, with 80 points, including 26 goals. They have been joined on a line by Hruza, a winger. That trio has combined for an incredible 90 goals and 233 points. They've also accounted for 38 power-play goals and nine short-handed goals, the most by any trio in the league.

"They've been unbelievable," third-year Bruins defenseman and team captain Nathan Williams said. "Their connection, they know exactly where each other are. It's that twin telepathy, and we have the third twin on their line sitting here (laughs, points to Hruza). They're amazing players on the ice and they're amazing humas off the ice."

When the Marshchanok twins arrived in Minnesota prior to this season, Bruins assistant coach Al Rooney picked them up from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The brothers' offensive ability was no secret to the Bruins coaches, but Rooney asked them if they could kill penalties.

"They kind of looked at each other and smiled," Howard said, "and said 'we scored 10 short-handed goals last year, coach.' And then (Rooney) said they looked at each other again and added 'three of them were at five-on-three.'"

Rooney's eyes lit up, the former goaltender imagining all the ways the Bruins could take advantage of the Marshchanoks skills.

The brothers have been a force on the penalty kill in their first and only season in Austin. Matsvei is tied for fourth in the NAHL with four short-handed goals and Siamion is tied for sixth with three shorties. Hruza has two, giving their line nine of the Bruins' league-best 19 short-handed tallies.

Only one team is within five of Austin's total — the Northeast Generals, with 16.

Austin's propensity to score with a man in the penalty box is often a momentum changer.

The Bruins also lead the league by a wide margin with 82 power-play goals. Division rival Bismarck is second with 66, and Maryland is third with 62.

"I don't think I've ever been part of a team or seen a team with 19 short-handed goals," Howard said. "That will take the wind out of the other team's sails pretty quickly, when you get a short-handed goal in a close game.

"Other than Jeremy Olson at Hoot and Ole's (Tavern), I think everybody is pretty excited to see those short-handed goals."

Hoot and Ole's offers two-for-one drink specials when the Bruins score short-handed. It's been a popular promotion this season.

The NAHL Central Division features eight teams.

The Austin Bruins had a winning record this season against six of them. The one they didn't? The Watertown Shamrocks.

Watertown went 5-3 against Austin this season, with five of the eight matchups decided by one goal. Just one meeting went into overtime — their first matchup of the season, which the Shamrocks won 2-1 on their home ice on Oct. 31.

The score was within one goal in seven of the eight games this year, including Austin's 5-2 victory at home on Dec. 12. The Bruins trailed 2-1 entering the third period that night, but scored four times in the final 20 minutes to pull away.

Watertown averaged 3.31 goals per game and 3.29 goals against in the regular season, while Austin averaged 4.08 per game and allowed 2.22 per game.

"They obviously can score," Howard said. "They have a really good goalie (Mason Gudridge) and when they get chances, they bury them. We've had a couple games where we've outshot them by quite a bit and they've come out on the winning side of it. We've made a few dumb errors, some mistakes, and that can cost you. But that's hockey. That's the beauty of the game."

The teams haven't met in more than three months, since Watertown swept the Bruins by identical 3-2 scores in Watertown on Jan. 9-10. Austin hasn't defeated the Shamrocks in more than four months, since a 3-1 win at Riverside on Dec. 13.

That's all out the window now, though, as the records are reset and its a race to three victories.

"We have to limit our mistakes," Hruza said. "When we're playing our best hockey I don't think there's anybody that's going to be able to beat us."