An Austin Bruins forward set a new single season scoring standard as the Bruins clinched a postseason berth when they bounced back from a slow start to defeat the Aberdeen Wings 6-4 in Riverside Arena Friday night. Alex Laurenza put his name at the top of the list for goals scored in a season and he also gave his team a big boost when he spun and connected on a shot in front of the net to score his 33rd goal of the season and put Austin up 5-4 with 9:24 left in the game.  Laurenza extended his record to 34 when he sank an empty netter to ice the game. Former Bruins Walter Zacher and Austin Salani were previously tied with the single season record with 32 goals apiece. “I learned a lot from Salani when he was a captain for us last year. To see him break the record last year and then for me to break it this year, is kind of cool,” Laurenza said. “I give a lot of credit to my line. We all talk a lot on and off the ice, and it helps us out a lot.” Laurenza, who is from Woodbridge, Ontario, also holds the single season record for points (73) in a season. Austin (35-10-3-2 overall) held a brief 4-3 lead after two periods, but Aberdeen tied the game early in the third period when Ryan Many Grey Horses scored his second goal of the night on a clean look. The Bruins came out flat in the first period as the Wings (26-21-2 overall) took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but Austin came out amped up in the second period. Gavin Hruza put the Bruins on the board and Luc Malkhassian took over from there. Malkhassian brought Austin within 3-2 when he was able to angle a shot off the back of Aberdeen goalie Damon Cunningham while falling to the ice, and Malkhassian gave Austin a 4-3 lead when he slapped home a one-timer with 24 seconds left in the second period. “We weren’t playing bad, but we were just making mistakes. We had to fix that and get back to our style,” Malkhassian said.  Malkhassian, who is from Toronto, now has 45 assists on the season and he’s right behind Laurenza with 67 points. Malkhassian and Laurenza have known each other for about a decade and they’ve spent a lot of time on the ice together. “He’s been one of my closest friends in hockey for a long time,” Malkhassian said of Laurenza. “His tenacity is what separates him from other players. When he sees the puck, he’s going to get it.” Jack Solomon finished with 25 saves for Austin. SCORING SUMMARY Aberdeen 2 1 1 – 4 Austin 0 4 1 – 6 First period (AB) Nikolai Tiskhkevich (Luke Backel) 10:36 (AB) Ryan Many Grey Horses (Jibber Kuhl, Sebastian Lillsund) 15:19 Second period (A) Gavin Hruza (Jake Spraetz) :25 (AB) Kuhl (Elvis Laskovs, Grant Winkler) 9:20 (A) Luc Malkhassian (EJ Paddington, Jackson Rilei) 13:02 (A) Connor Beckwith (Nathan Williams, Trace Day) 18:34 (A) Malkhassian (Rilei, Paddington) 19:36 Third period (AB) Many Grey Horses (Tishkevich, Winkler) 2:40 (A) Alex Laurenza (Luc Malkhassian, Emil Samuelsson) 10:16 (A) Laurenza 19:32      The post Laurenza sets record as Bruins clinch playoff berth appeared first on Austin Daily Herald. ...read more read less