Weekly Update: Eagle River, WI, February 19, 2024.
Weekend Recap: The second half of a back to back series between the top two teams in the Midwest Division moved to Janesville, WI, in a 2 game series held February 16 and 17. After sweeping the Jets at home the previous weekend, the Windigo held an 8-point edge in the standings.
Friday, February 16: Windigo 1 at Jets 2 (SO): The Windigo carried the play from the opening faceoff thru the end of the second period. The Windigo outshot the Jets 15 to 9 in the first period and 16 to 7 in the second. It took a power play opportunity late in the first period for the Windigo to solve Jets netminder Matthew Alberti. The Windigo executed their league leading power play to score with 29 seconds remaining in the opening period. Tyler Grahme won an offensive zone faceoff back to Erick Comstock. Comstock passed the puck to Everett Pietila at the top of the circle. Pietila moved the puck Max Martin posted on the goal line. Martin spotted Will Schumacher all alone at the far faceoff dot, from where he released a quick wrist shot to score his 27th goal of the season. The game went scoreless for the next 37 minutes. The Jets came to life and outshot the Windigo 16-4 in the in the third period. Quinn Disher was sent to the penalty box for tripping for what looked to be an innocent reach for the puck in the offensive zone. Haden Kruse jumped on a rebound in the waning seconds of the Jets’ power play to even the score with 3:30 remaining. After 5 minutes of scoreless 3-on-3 overtime play, the game went to a shootout. Martin and Comstock scored for the Windigo in the shootout, but the Jets picked up the win when the Windigo failed to score in the 7th round of the shootout. Max Beckford made 34 saves but took his 4th loss of the season to go with his 13 wins. Alberti made 36 saves in net for Janesville to pick up his 22nd win of the campaign.
Saturday, February 17: Windigo 4 at Jets 2: The second game of the weekend was more evenly played from start to finish, but the Windigo seemed to find their scoring touch to get back on the winning track. Janesville opened the scoring 9 minutes into the contest with a short handed goal. A Janesville player stripped a member of the Windigo power play unit of the puck on the Windigo blue line and walked in alone to put his team up 1-0. The Windigo tied the game early in the second period when Carter Theissen received a pass from Tyler Grahme just above the goal line. Theissen spun in a circle and released a shot towards the net that somehow eluded Jets’ netminder Matthew Alberti. Tyler Grahme put the Windigo on top 2-1 with 6 minutes remaining in the second period. Everett Pietila captured a zone entry pass from Erick Comstock. Pietila dropped the puck to Will Schumacher just inside the blue line. Schumacher fed the puck over to Tyler Grahme who was dropping into the slot. Grahme kicked Schumacher’s pass from his skates to his stick and released a quick shot that Alberti seemed to have gotten a piece of with his glove hand.
The Jets tied it at 2 at 5:18 of the third period. Max Martin (from Grahme and Comstock) put the Windigo up 3-2 with 5 minutes remaining. Tyler Grahme scored his 20th goal of the season into an empty net with 52 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Windigo. Linards Lipskis recorded his 16th win of the season in net, registering 23 saves. The Windigo placed 33 shots on Janesville’s net, including the empty netter.
Windigo Players Leading the League in Scoring: Max Martin maintained his status as the leader in total points in the NAHL, with 34 goals and 45 assists. Martin’s 34 goals leads the league in that category. Tyler Grahme moved up to 4th place in total points, with 20 goals and 35 assists. Everett Pietila holds down the 9th position in league points, with 11 goals and 38 assists. Will Schumacher is second in goals scored in the league with 27 goals in just 38 games played.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach Blake Hietala offered the following after the weekend series: “On Friday, we learned that we need to play a full 60 minutes to win, especially on the road. We played very well during the first two periods. Their goalie kept them in the game and gave them a chance to come back in the third. It seemed like a lot of our shots went slightly too high or wide. That happens on some nights. Beckford played well but we couldn’t manufacture the scoring needed to win. On Saturday, we found our scoring touch, which is difficult to maintain over a long season. We have several guys that can score on any given night. We gave up our 6th short-handed goal against this season. We need to be more careful with the puck. I’m pleased with the guys for maintaining their composure after that. The guys kept working and pressing. Janesville is a talented team, and they will continue to be a tough out for the remainder of the season.”
Up Next: The Windigo continue their seven-game road trip, heading further south to Springfield, IL, to face off against the Jr. Blues on February 23-24. The journey continues to Cloquet, MN, on March 2-3, with a two game set versus the Wilderness. The road trip concludes in Chippewa Falls, WI, on March 7 with a single game against the Steel. The Windigo return home to the Dome on March 8-9 to face the Jets. That series will feature a ‘Stick-it-to-Cancer’ benefit. Both of those games will start at 7pm. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for the reserved access section. Visit www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com/tickets.