The chances were there for the Albert Lea Thunder Friday against the Alexandria Blizzard at the City Arena, but the end result was a 6-2 loss.

The Thunder (0-8-1) outshot the Blizzard 38-34 in the game and 28-17 in the first two periods.

But Alexandria (7-3-1) used the power play to its advantage as the Blizzard converted on three of its six opportunities, two came in the first period alone.

Albert Lea had a number of chances in the first period to take a lead, but had difficulty against Alexandria netminder Ryan Leets. Leets made 36 saves and frustrated the Thunder all evening long.

“The first period, we had five chances,” Albert Lea head coach Brad Zangs said. “Out of those five chances three have to go into the net.”

The Blizzard made a trip to the Robertson Cup last season and returned a majority of the players from that squad. For the first two periods the Thunder were evenly matched five-on-five against Alexandria.

“We were getting the chances,” Albert Lea forward Mitch Torrel said. “The goalie had our number all night. He came up with big saves. If we would of got one to fall a little earlier it would have been a completely different story.”

Torrel scored the first goal of the game for the Thunder at the 4:44 mark in the third period, but the Blizzard held a 5-1 lead at that point.

Albert Lea trailed 3-0 entering the third period, but Alexandria scored goals in the first two minutes of the period to take a 5-0 lead.

Jerry Freismuth made the game 6-1 as he continued to cause fits for the Thunder defense.

Josh Botimer scored his first goal of the season at the 12:24 mark in the third.

Albert Lea controlled play for stretches throughout the game, but penalties were the difference.

“Five on five we can compete with any team,” Torrel said. “It’s just we get into penalty trouble and when you’re down a man it’s hard for your offense to get the momentum going your way.”

The Blizzard scored the first goal of the game on a 5-on-3 power play and scored a second goal at the 19:24 mark on a power play after Danny Wood was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Albert Lea displayed an improved offense that generated a number of quality scoring opportunities through the first two periods, but failed to cash in.

The frustration mounted in the third period as Leets continued to turn away Thunder opportunities.

“It’s so frustrating, when we have those chances and we just don’t bury them,” Wood said.

The last time the two teams met at the City Arena Albert Lea suffered a 8-2 loss where the team gave up five second period goals. Garrett Grimstad and Noah Nemgar each had two goals in that game and Freismuth assisted on the first four goals for the Blizzard.

The loss was a setback for the Thunder after the team appeared to have taken a step forward in a 5-4 loss last Saturday to North Iowa.

“We can’t have a good game, like we did last week against North Iowa, and follow it up like this,” Wood said. “We have to use that momentum and take it to the next game.”

Albert Lea faces Alexandria again Friday in Alexandria.

1st 2nd 3rd Total

Alexandria – 2 1 3 6

Albert Lea – 0 0 2 2

GOAL SCORING:

1st period: Alexandria – Noah Nemgar (powerplay) (Garrett Grimstad, Derek Kaiser) 3:56

Alexandria – Taylor Vichorek (powerplay) (Lane Bitz, Jon Swavely) 19:24

2nd period: Alexandria – Joe Knoepke (powerplay) (Garrett Grimstad) 9:00

3rd period: Alexandria – Jerry Freismuth (Garrett Grimstad, Derek Kaiser) 1:36

Alexandria – Joe Knoepke (Derek Kaiser) 2:00

Albert Lea – Mitch Torrel (unassisted) 4:40

Alexandria – Jerry Freismuth (Noah Nemgar, Kyle Clement) 5:38

Albert Lea – Josh Botimer (powerplay) (Nikita Feaktistov, Derek Docken) 12:24

POWER-PLAY CONVERSION: Alexandria — 3 for 6, Albert Lea — 1 for 12

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1st 2nd 3rd

Alexandria 10 7 17

Albert Lea 13 15 10