Up Next: The Windigo Return Home to Host the Fairbanks Ice Dogs December 20-21
Photos: Braydon Beahm (#11), Riley Joslin (#28) and Martin Klicka (#26) prepare for a faceoff. Lucas Szyszka (#33) and Riley Joslin (#28) brace for a shot on net. Szyszka, Joslin and Cashen Naeve (#24) celebrate Friday’s victory.
Weekend Recap: The Windigo traveled to Chippewa Falls, WI, to face the Steel in a two game series on Friday and Saturday. Despite a depleted roster, the Windigo got the job done on Friday with a convincing 7-2 win but dropped Saturday’s rematch 4 to 2. The Windigo retained their lead in the NAHL Midwest Division standings with 43 points over second place Anchorage (39 points) and third place Fairbanks (36 points). in Midwest Division competition last weekend, Anchorage split their series with Janesville and Fairbanks dropped two games at Springfield
Friday, December 13 – Windigo 7 at Chippewa Steel 2: The Steel jumped out to a lead just two minutes into the contest when they took advantage of a Windigo offensive zone turnover and headed up ice on a 2-on-1 break away. A few minutes later, Ben Aucoin tied it up for the Windigo after receiving a pass from Michael Maillette and one-timed the puck from just above the goal line through the Steel netminder’s legs. The opening period would close in a 1 to 1 tie with the Steel outshooting the Windigo 9 to 7. The Windigo turned up the pressure in the second period scoring 4 unanswered goals. Sam Misak scored his first NAHL goal to start the onslaught. The Trencin, Slovakia native picked up a pass from Cashen Naeve in the neutral zone and skated into the offensive zone. His wrist shot from the faceoff circle found its mark low to the far side of the net. Windigo forward Beau Kralovec scored his third of the season while shorthanded. Luke Baker picked up a loose puck and headed towards the net. His shot from close range rebounded to Kralovec who then tapped the puck into the net. Ronnie Hill scored his seventh goal of the season to extend the Windigo lead to 4 to 1. Hill was set up by Windigo defenseman Mario DiMaggio. DiMaggio executed a nifty deke on the blue line to evade a Steel defender. He then found Hill all alone in the mid-slot, from where he released a wrist shot along the ice to the far side of the net. Less than a minute later DiMaggio scored a goal of his own. DiMaggio worked a give and go with Misak just inside the offensive blue line. DiMaggio dropped deep into the offensive zone as Misak passed the puck to the far side to Zach Cline. Cline found DiMaggio all alone at the back door, from where he deposited the puck to the back of the net. The middle frame ended with the Windigo holding a commanding 5 to 1 lead. Windigo defenseman Declan Burns scored his first of 2 goals during the third period during 4-on-4 play. Burns picked up the puck in his own zone and headed up ice. He dropped the puck to Luke Baker just inside the blue line and headed towards the net. Baker sauced the puck back to Burns. Burns went forehand to backhand to deke the Steel netminder to put the Windigo up 6 to 1. The Steel’s Grant Denuccio cut the lead to 6 to 2 at 9:17 of the final frame. Burns answered a few minutes later when his shot from the low slot went through the five-hole and into the net. Alexios Georgaklis and Cashen Naeve were credited with the assists. Windigo netminder Lucas Szyszka earned his 16th win in net with 28 saves. Three Windigo defenders had three point nights while leading their team to victory– Declan Burns (2g, 1a), Mario DiMaggio (1g, 3a) and Cashed Naeve (3a).
Saturday, December 14 – Windigo 2 at Chippewa Steel 4: Braydon Beahm got back on the scoring track with a goal just three minutes into the game. Beahm deflected a shot from the blue line off the stick of Declan Burns into the top of the net. The Steel answered with two goals prior to the mid-way point of the first period to jump to a 2 to 1 lead. Beahm scored again to tie the game at 2 goals a piece with 9:21 remaining in the opening frame. Beahm won a puck battle in the corner and skated the puck to the faceoff circle from where he released a wrist shot to the top of the far side of the net. The Steel regained the lead with a power play goal with 49 seconds remaining in the first period. Chippewa scored the only goal of the second period to increase their lead to 4 to 2. The Windigo outshot the Steel 8 to 5 in the third period but were unable to find the back of the net. Windigo netminder, Lucas Szyszka, took his only second regulation time loss of the season with 21 saves. The Steel narrowly outshot the Windigo in the contest, 25 to 23.
Coach’s Comments: Coach John Mitchell offered the following after the weekend series. “I was very pleased to see the distributed scoring on Friday night. We’ve been fielding some new players the last few weeks and some of our top producers offensively haven’t been available for us to play. It’s great to see some of the other guys step up and contribute offensively. Our penalty killing units continue to perform well. Anytime you can score while killing a penalty can be demoralizing for an opponent. Guys like Baker, Cline and Kralovec, have really done a nice job converting on goal scoring opportunities while killing penalties. Our effort on Saturday wasn’t where it needed to be. Perhaps we tried to finesse the puck a little too much. We turned down some opportunities to get the puck on net. Sometimes in road games like this, we need to simplify things a little and make their goalie handle the puck more and try to capitalize on rebounds.” Assistant coach Bryce Reddick has primary responsibility for Windigo defensemen. “I was pleased with the offensive contribution our defensemen displayed on Friday. Three of those guys had 3-point nights. With some of our offensive firepower unavailable to us currently, it’s great to see those guys step up and contribute on the scoreboard. We’ve also had other guys play huge minutes while not being 100% healthy. I like the gritty effort we’ve been seeing from our blueliners,” added coach Reddick.
Up Next: The Windigo return home for a two game series against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on December 20-21. Opening faceoff at the historic Dome in Eagle River is at 7pm both nights. Tickets for the homestand versus the Ice Dogs are available online at www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com/tickets or at the door commencing 1 hour prior to the game.
