*Photo Contributed by Juan Carlos Wood – @photosbyjcw on Instagram
This weekend, the Windigo extended their win streak to three games with a pair of road victories over the Chippewa Steel. With Saturday’s victory marking the end of a five-game stretch against Chippewa, the Windigo won four of the contests and are now 5-1-0 against the Steel this season.
Friday, Jan. 30
Final Score: Windigo 5, Chippewa 4 (SO)
In the opening contest of the series, the Windigo and Steel battled back and forth in a game that would need a shootout to be decided. While the Windigo came out on top, it was Chippewa who struck first with a goal midway through the opening period. Roughly 80 seconds later, they would score again when Steel winger Mason Johnson scored his first of two goals on the night. Chippewa would lead the game 2-0 after the first 20 minutes. With the Steel converting the pair of goals on three shot attempts, Windigo netminder Max Larsson was pulled from the game in favor of Easton Cody.
The second period was a different story, however, as the Windigo found an answer offensively, scoring two goals within 28 seconds early in the period. The first goal was scored by defenseman Jordan Stange for his first twine finder of the season. With his goal, each Windigo player on the active roster has recorded a goal this season. His tally was quickly followed up by a goal from center Josh Sardo, when he ripped the puck for a slapshot moments after a faceoff win. The goal was Sardo’s 12th of the season, which tied him for the team lead with left winger Ryan Mottau.
After a scoreless stretch that leaked into the third period, Chippewa scored near the 14-minute mark to reclaim the lead. 12 minutes later, they scored on a power play to go up 4-2 with two and a half minutes remaining. On most nights, the Steel’s two-goal lead with 150 seconds remaining would have set them up for a win.
Friday, Jan. 30, was not one of those nights. The Windigo responded within 30 seconds when team captain Declan Burns fired a shot near the blueline that found the back of the net off a deflection. The goal was his sixth of the season and 11th all-time. He quickly went back to work, and just 54 seconds later, he made the game-tying assist on an incredible goal from winger Will Doherty, who sniped the goal from a narrow angle to force overtime. The goal was Doherty’s eighth of the season and 22nd overall point between the Windigo and St. Cloud Norsemen.
After a scoreless five minutes of overtime, the Windigo entered their third shootout of the season. Wisconsin elected to send out assistant captain Riley Joslin for the first attempt, which he converted. After Chippewa tied up the shootout, Wisconsin left winger Beau Kralovec put the Windigo back up with a tally of his own. Following a Chippewa miss and a saved attempt by former Windigo netminder Max Kogler, the Steel had to convert the last attempt to extend the shootout. Unfortunately for them, Cody saved the final attempt to secure the second win in a row for Wisconsin. Outside of the shootout stop, Cody finished the contest with 21 saves on 23 attempts.
In terms of playmaking, both left winger Peyton Mithmuangneua and blueliner Henry Steele led the way with two assists. Mithmuangneua played a hand in the goals scored by Sardo and Burns, and Steele helped out on the team’s last two goals of regulation. Outside of them, Kralovec, Doherty and winger Jackson Ernst also recorded an assist in the contest.
Saturday, Jan. 31
Final Score: Windigo 5, Chippewa 0
In the second game of the weekend, the Windigo posted the second shutout over their three-game win streak with the same scoreline as the first. Wisconsin found the scoresheet quickly with center AJ Bongiorno scoring the opening goal just over three minutes into the contest. The twine finder was Bongiorno’s second of the season and 10th overall point, as he became one of the 17 skaters for the Windigo who currently have double-digit points this season.
After a strong defensive effort to close out the remainder of the first period, Wisconsin’s offense exploded for three goals in the second. Less than three minutes into the period, Burns fired a power-play goal for his second goal of the weekend. As he also assisted Bongiorno’s tally, Burns’ goal helped him secure his second multi-point effort of the weekend. He currently leads all Windigo defensemen with 23 points across 25 games this season.
In the last three minutes of the second period, the Windigo grabbed their third and fourth goals of the game. First, winger Brendan Finley netted his 12th goal of the season, which is currently tied for the team lead with Mottau and Sardo. For the fourth goal, winger Aidan Hickok beat the score clock and fired his sixth goal of the season with just 10 seconds remaining in the period.
In the third period, the Windigo would add one more goal when Ernst scored his 10th goal of the season, becoming the fifth forward on the roster to reach the double-digit mark for goals this year. The goal was Ernst’s 56th point across two seasons with the team, which moved him up to 15th place on the all-time point leaderboard.
The shutout performance was posted by Larsson, who saved all 21 shots he faced en route to his second shutout against the Steel this season. Outside of the aforementioned assists, the Windigo also received playmaking contributions from Sardo, Joslin, center McCarthy Richardson and winger Sutton Verot.
Standings
Following the series sweep, the Windigo now hold a 25-15-1 record, which places them in third place. At 51 points, they are tied with the second-place Fairbanks Ice Dogs, but end up behind them in the standings with the Ice Dogs currently holding the tiebreaker for regulation wins. With the series loss, Chippewa falls to 7-30-3, which ranks eighth in the division.
With the pair of wins, the Windigo sustained a spot in the NAHL Power Rankings, as they moved up from 10th to ninth. They are one of two teams in the Midwest Division to be featured in the rankings, with the other being the Minnesota Wilderness (3rd).
Up Next
The Windigo will look to bring their momentum into a road series against the Midwest Division-leading Minnesota Wilderness. The two-game series will take place between Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7, with puck drop for both games slated for 7:15 PM CST.
If you can’t be there in person, all Windigo home and away games can be streamed on NATV. Visit nahltv.com for more details.
