Bloomington Blaze had a two-goal lead after two periods and cruised the rest of the way en route to a 4-1 win over Great Lakes Lightning.

Great Lakes Lightning was stymied by Bloomington Blaze netminder Gavin Carlson, who stopped 51 shots during the victory. Carlson managed to improve on his goals against average, which stood at 3.63 prior to the game.

Great Lakes Lightning's power play was ineffective against Bloomington Blaze's penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.

Bloomington Blaze excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in eight chances. Bloomington Blaze forced Great Lakes Lightning goalie Jeff LaBaere to work between the pipes, taking 50 shots.

Bloomington Blaze was helped by Steven Smoltz, who finished with one goal. Smoltz scored 16:35 into the first period to make the score 2-0 Bloomington Blaze. Joseph Clemente picked up the assist. Bloomington Blaze additionally got points from Matt Donley, who also grabbed one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Bloomington Blaze also got a goal from Jacob Lourash as well. In addition, Bloomington Blaze received assists from Anton Thompson, Steven Butler, and Anton Nenakhov, who contributed one a piece.

Great Lakes Lightning forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up eight minors and two majors for 36 minutes in penalty time. Great Lakes Lightning had been averaging 15.0 minutes in penalties per game. Great Lakes Lightning's offense rang up 52 shots on Bloomington Blaze's net.

Great Lakes Lightning was led by Mitchell Mergel, who scored the team's only goal. Mergel scored short handed 2:12 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Bloomington Blaze. A cross checking call on Alexander Krebs put Great Lakes Lightning on the penalty kill. Eric Roche provided the assist.

Bloomington Blaze totaled 25 minutes in penalty time with 10 minors and one major and went 1-for-9 on the power play. Great Lakes Lightning's LaBaere stopped 46 shots out of the 50 that he faced.