Jason Fornwald was out of town and Josh Heilman was out sick.

It meant Josh Gulbrandson was back in the net for the Albert Lea Blades, and he came through again.

Gulbrandson, a call-up from the Sunday night in-house hockey league at the City Arena, suited up at goalie for the Blades Saturday night and got the win as Albert Lea beat arch-rival Austin 10-5. It was the second Blades appearance of the season for Gulbrandson who, according to Fornwald, filled in admirably.

Jeremy Hendrickson, Justin Bolinger and David Nystrom scored two goals apiece for the Blades, who got one goal each from Kris Ellsworth, Mike Nelson, Mike Carlson and Travis Brua.

The Blades outshot the Outlaws 40-22. Austin had three penalties, Albert Lea two.

&uot;It was cleaner this time,&uot; said Fornwald. &uot;The first time we played them, it was a real clean game. The second one was a little more rough.&uot;

The Blades ran their record to 5-1 in the Southern Minnesota Hockey League and 8-1 overall. Austin fell to 1-3 in league play, though the Outlaws were coming off a big win over Rochester Landon Trophy.

&uot;It was nice to get the win,&uot; said Fornwald. &uot;And any time you get a win over Austin, it’s always a little extra sweet.&uot;

The Blades are off until Friday, Jan. 3, when they face the Rochester Rookies in the first game of a weekend home-and-home series at Kasson. On Saturday they host the Rookies, who handed Albert Lea its lone defeat of the season by a score of 10-5.