The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Bloomington Blaze held on for a 3-2 victory.

Bloomington made the score 3-1 on a goal by Jerry Pollastrone at 12:52 in the second period, and Rio Grande Valley got as close as 3-2 when Craig Lineker scored 8:09 into the third period.

The Blaze were led by Pollastrone, who had one goal.

Bloomington managed to stay out of the box better than usual, registering one minor for two minutes in penalty time. The Blaze finished below its season average of 15 penalty minutes per game. Bloomington relied on a core group of players for most of its offense, as Brandon Richardson, Jordy Trottier and Jason Dale took 13 of the team's 24 shots.

Other players who recorded assists for Bloomington were Ryan Palmer, who had one and Vladimir Nikiforov and Luke Popko, who contributed two each.

The Killer Bees managed to stay out of the box better than usual, totaling one minor for two minutes in penalty time. Rio Grande Valley wound up below its season average of 15 penalty minutes per game. The 26 shots that the Killer Bees put on net surpassed Rio Grande Valley's average of 22 shots per game this season.

The Killer Bees were helped by Dan Gendur, who grabbed one goal. Gendur scored 18:11 into the first period to make the score 1-1. Brandon Campos provided the assist. In addition, Rio Grande Valley received assists from Zac Pearson, Tomas Klempa, and Reid Edmondson, who each chipped in one.

Brian Mahoney-Wilson turned away 24 pucks between the pipes for the Blaze. Bloomington registered zero goals on one power play opportunities. Rio Grande Valley's John Murray stopped 21 shots out of the 24 that he faced. The Killer Bees registered zero goals on one power play opportunities.