Addison, IL - The Gamblers went into Friday's game still neck and neck with the Chicago Crush in the standings as the season winds down.
The Gamblers were poised to overtake the Crush in the standings as the playoff push begins to wind down. But a tough back and forth affair on Friday and Saturday, led to nothing changed from the three game series as the Gamblers lost 4-2 on Friday but won 4-1 on Saturday.
Nick Allen (Utica, MI) led the Gamblers on Friday with the team's only two goals scored. It was the fifth time this season that Allen had a multi-goal game.
The first goal came with 25-seconds left in the second period to tie the score at 1-1 when Isaac Bunk (Leonard, MI) intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and created a 2-on-1 rush. He feathered a pass to the slot for Allen who flicked it past the goaltender.
The second goal came six and half minutes left in the third when he followed and trailed a breakaway shot from Trevor Touchton (Utica, MI) for a 2-1 lead. Chicago answered with three goals, one of which was on an empty net to capture the win.
Full game stats can be found here.
On Saturday, the Gamblers only trailed in the first period when Chicago's Jace Levine scored the lone Crush goal at the 18:20 mark.
Touchton and Allen each recorded goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Touchton's power play goal was his 24th goal of the year and fifth power play goal of the season. Allen's goal was his third in two days.
Mark Bonnay (Anchor Bay, MI) and Josh Koza (Peoria, IL) added two more goals in the third period that capped the scoring at 4-1. Bonnay now has 19 goals this season, while Koza has 10.
Full game stats can be found here.