Weekend Recap: From the Kenai Peninsula, the Windigo traveled north to Fairbanks, deep in the interior of Alaska. They were greeted by sustained subzero temperatures, with daytime highs of -20 degrees and evening lows of -41. The 3 game series sweep of the appropriately named Ice Dogs propelled the Windigo into sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division.
Thursday, January 25: Windigo 3 at Fairbanks 1: After jumping on a turnover deep in the Windigo zone, the Ice Dogs got on the board 44 seconds into the game. The goal ignited the Windigo as they dominated the balance of the action in the first period, outshooting Fairbanks 13-6 in the opening frame. Will Schumacher’s power play goal (from Max Martin and Everett Pietila) midway thru the second period tied the game. On the power play again, midway thru the second period, Martin and Daniil Dolzhenko worked a give and go to perfection. Dolzhenko’s return pass found Martin dropping thru the low slot and Martin buried the puck to the far side of the net. Braydon Beahm scored an empty netter with 32 seconds remaining to seal the victory. The Windigo outshot their opponent 33 to 23. Max Beckford earned the victory in net for the Windigo.
Friday, January 26: Windigo 6 at Fairbanks 1:Displaying impressive speed and an aggressive forecheck, the Windigo came out firing on all cylinders, outshooting their opponent 15-5 in the first period. Will Schumacher lit the lamp 10 minutes into the game with a shot from the goal line that deflected off the goaltender and into the net. Three minutes later, emulating Schumacher, Max Martin scored from the opposite side as he released a shot from along the goal line. Quinn Disher scored his first of three goals of the night to put the Windigo ahead 3-0 at the end of the first period. The momentum seemed to shift slightly in the second period with Fairbanks holding the shot advantage, 13-8. However, the Windigo’s league leading power play struck 12 minutes into the middle frame when Everett Pietila scored on a wrister from the top of the circle. Fairbanks scored their only goal of the game at 15:41 of the second period. Disher answered with a power play goal to close the second period with the Windigo holding a 5-1 lead. Disher completed his hat trick 8 minutes into the third period. Elliot Gulley won an offensive zone draw to Disher, who released a quick shot to the far corner of the net. Linards Lipskis made 26 saves for his 13th win of the season.
Saturday, January 27: Windigo 6 at Fairbanks 3: An evenly played first period was scoreless until Braydon Beahm’s wrist shot from the blue line found the top corner of the net 17 minutes into the game. Jacob Jastrzebski (from Max Martin and Luke Baker) put the Windigo up 2-0 at 3:44 of the second period. Fairbanks scored a minute later to cut the Windigo lead in half. Everett Pietila’s power play goal a few minutes later made it 3-1. Quinn Disher continued his hot hand to extend the lead to 4-1 to finish the scoring in the second period. At 6:38 of the third, Logan Nickolaus scored his 5th goal of the season to bring the lead to 5-1. Fairbanks responded with a goal of their own just over a minute later to make if 5-2. Will Schumacher scored his 23rd of the year with 6 minutes remaining with a wrist shot to the near corner. Fairbanks responded once more to make the final score 6-3. Max Beckford recorded his 11th win in net, making 30 saves in the process. The Windigo placed 31 shots on net.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach Blake Hietala offered the following after the weekend series: “I’m proud of the way our guys battled and maintained disciplined play. Fairbanks is a difficult place to play. It’s a long trip, they field a competitive team that plays an aggressive game, and their fans can be challenging to contend with. Martin, Schumacker, Grahme, Jastrzebski, Beahm and Pietila, have been playing well for weeks now. Our power play is clicking. It was great to see Disher score the hat trick on Friday and follow it up with another goal on Saturday. Nickolaus deserved to be rewarded with a goal as well. He contributes so much to the team. He’s been key to our penalty killing success. Luke Baker has been contributing is many ways. I like the way he took exception to them trying to rough up Jastrzebski. Our defensive core has been steady, and both Beckford and Lipskis are seeing the puck well. We’ve got a number of key series coming up, including 8 games left this season against Janesville. We’ll take them one game at a time and keep the focus at a high level.”
Up Next: The Windigo return home to host the Anchorage Wolverines in a 2 games series February 2 and 3. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for the reserved access section. Visit www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com/tickets.