The second period continued to be problematic Thursday for the Albert Lea boys’ hockey team in a 7-2 loss to Rochester Century at the City Arena.

The loss comes on the heels of a 5-2 loss to Owatonna Tuesday where the Huskies scored four goals en route to the victory.

Thursday it was the Panthers’ turn as Jordan Martini scored twice in the second and Century added two more goals for a 4-1 lead.

Albert Lea (12-6-0, 4-1-0) had taken a 1-0 lead 5 minutes, 34 seconds into the period when Tyler Brackey scored off a feed from Mitchell Sorenson, but untimely penalties ended up costing the Tigers.

Eight seconds after Brackey scored, Albert Lea was whistled for a penalty. Thirty-three seconds later, the Tigers took a second which gave Century a 5-on-3 power play for 1:27.

Martini capitalized at 7:06 on a rebound goal in front of the net to tie the game. Twenty-seven seconds later, Martini struck again for a power-play goal, giving the Panthers (7-10-0, 2-0) a 2-1 lead.

“They scored that first goal, and almost like the second period against Owatonna, we get a penalty — not a smart penalty. Then we get another penalty — not a smart penalty, and they get two power-play goals. Now they’re up on us 2-1 and then it just seemed like they got life and they took it to us for the rest of the period,” Albert Lea head coach Roy Nystrom said. “The second period in the last two games has really been a downfall for us.”

The Tigers struggled the rest of the period. Even when it looked like they would get out of the period down 3-1, Century added a goal with 36 seconds remaining for a 4-1 lead.

“It seemed like they turned it up after the second goal and we didn’t respond,” said Nystrom, whose team dropped it first conference game of the season.

Martini continued to slay the Tigers in the third period. Martini helped set up two more goals and finished the night with four points as Albert Lea dropped consecutive games for the first time this season.

Century pounded the Tigers’ net with 28 shots in the second period and finished with 51 in the game. Albert Lea finished with 41 shots on goal, but found few scoring chances.

The Tigers let a prime opportunity slip through their hands in the third period. Still trailing 4-1, the Panthers took two penalties at the same time, creating a 5-on-3 power play for 2 minutes for Albert Lea.

Instead of working back into the game, the Tigers gave up a shorthanded goal to Cory Kautz to make the game 5-1.

Brackey added a late goal to make the game 7-2, but by then it was far too little, far too late for Albert Lea.

Brackey was a bright spot for the Tigers Thursday. He scored twice and delivered two crushing hits in the neutral zone during the first period. In the third period Nystrom moved him up to the first line and that’s when he scored his second goal.

“When I made that shift I think it did give that line a spark,” Nystrom said. “I though Brackey played a great game.”

Sophomore Cam Sellnow made 39 saves in the game for Century while Albert Lea’s John Wrolson stopped 44 shots.

Century 7, Albert Lea 2

Century 0 4 3 — 7

Albert Lea 0 1 1 — 2

First period— no scoring. Penalties— Bill Grinde, C, (high sticking), 3:18; Jordan Prescher-Smerud, AL, (tripping), 7:15; Tyler Prihoda, AL, (tripping), 16:58.

Second period— 1. Albert Lea, Tyler Brackey, (Mitchell Sorenson, Mike Falk), 5:24. 2. Century, Jordan Martini, (Nick Raehsler, Cory Kautz), 7:06 (pp.). 3. Century, Martini, (Kautz), 7:33 (pp.). 4. Century, Kautz, (Drew Anderson), 9:13. 5. Century, Ryan Knoepke, (Tyler Anderson, Joe Faupel), 16:24. Penalties— Prescher-Smerud, AL, (cross checking), 5:38; Blake Adams, AL, (hooking), 6:11.

Third period— 6. Century, Kautz, (unassisted), 7:40 (sh.). 7. Century, Nick Johnson, (Martini), 9:07. 8. Century, Drew Anderson, (Martini), 11:24. 9. Albert Lea, Brackey, (Prescher-Smerud, Prihoda), 12:47. Penalties— Grinde, C, (holding), 5:43; Nick Johnson, C, (tripping), 5:43; Mason Tuohy, AL, (tripping), 9:08; Brian Kalwasinski, C, (elbowing), 14:41; Sorenson, AL, (holding), 15:32; Grinde, C, (interference), 11:13; Kautz, C, (slashing), 16:59.  

Shots on Goal— Century 10-28-13 — 51; Albert Lea 7-14-20 — 41

Power-play opportunities— Century 2 of 5; Albert Lea 0 of 5.

Goalies— Century, Cam Sellnow (41 shots, 39 saves); Albert Lea, John Wroslson (51 shots, 44 saves).