In a rare home and away weekend series, the Windigo hosted the Chippewa Steel on Friday, December 8, at the historic Dome in Eagle River and traveled to Chippewa Falls, WI, for the second game of the weekend series. The Steel carried a 14-11-0-2 (wins-losses-overtime losses-shootout losses) record into the series and trailed the Windigo by just 2 points in the Midwest Division standings. The 14-9-3-1 Windigo held second place in the division going into the weekend.
Friday, December 8: Steel 1 at Windigo 6: The Steel struck first 2 minutes into the game by capitalizing on a turnover by a Windigo defensemen behind his goal line. But that would be all the visitors could muster offensively for the balance of the game. Mario DiMaggio tied it up on a power play midway thru the opening frame with a crisp wrist shot from the faceoff circle, after receiving a pass from Braydon Beahm who was deep in the corner. Elliot Gulley picked up the second assist on the goal. The Windigo power play struck again less than a minute into the second period. Max Martin received a pass on the goal line from Everett Pietila. Martin passed the puck across the top of the far crease to Tyler Grahme. Grahme’s shot put the Windigo up 2-1. The Windigo increased their lead to 3-1, when Luke Baker’s forecheck generated a loose puck in the low slot. Pietila picked up the puck and went backhand to forehand to tuck the puck past the Chippewa netminder. A pivotal sequence in the game came with just over 2 minutes remaining in the second period. After turning over the puck on the offensive blue line, the Windigo faced a 3-on-1 rush by the Steel. A Windigo defender blocked a cross ice pass to shut down that opportunity. They play resulted in the Windigo heading back up ice where Pietila found Baker crashing to the far side of the net. Baker redirected Pietila’s pass to the back of the net to put the Windigo up 4-1. Windigo forward Adam Timm put his team up 5-1 just over 3 minutes into the third period. Timm split two defenders to put a shot on net, then picked up his own rebound to finish the play. The Windigo power play remained hot, and converted on their third goal of the evening to close out the scoring. Erick Comstock fed Martin crossing in the neutral zone. After carrying the puck into the offensive zone, Martin found Pietila dropping into the high slot. Pietila released a wrist shot for his second goal of the evening. Windigo netminder Max Beckford had 26 saves for the victory in net. The Windigo placed 31 shots on the Steel net.
Saturday, December 9: Windigo 3 at Steel 4: Saturday’s rematch in Chippewa Falls was a hotly contested battle. The teams traded goals midway thru the first period. Zach Cline opened the scoring for the Windigo off of a nice series of passes between Windigo newcomer Carson Strapon and Logan Nickolaus. The Steel regained the lead late in the first period, 2-1, after capitalizing on a 2-on-1 that developed after a failed clearing attempt by the Windigo. The Steel went up 3-1 at 11:27 of the second period after pouncing on a loose puck that dribbled thru Windigo netminder Linards Lipskis. After a 50 minute delay due to a shattered piece of glass, the Windigo found themselves with a power play opportunity late in the second. Tape to tape passing from Daniil Dolzhenko to Jacob Jastrzebski to Tyler Grahme allowed Everett Pietila to find open space in the mid-slot. Grahme put the puck on Pietila’s stick and the Windigo forward converted for his third goal of the weekend. The second period concluded with the Steel clinging to a 3-2 lead. Two minutes into the final frame, the Steel found themselves with a 2-on-1 rush into the Windigo zone, after an errant Windigo pinch attempt in the neutral zone. They seized the opportunity and went up 4-2 after a rebound deflected off a skate past Lipskis. With under a minute remaining and a Steel player in the penalty box, the Windigo pulled their goaltender to create a 6 on 4 opportunity. Tyler Grahme picked up a loose puck and fed it to Braydon Beahm in front of the net. Beahm’s initial shot rebounded right back to him. His second shot bounced to Pietila, who deposited the puck into the back of the net to bring the Windigo within 1 goal with 50 seconds left. The Windigo failed to score again with the extra attacker in the waning seconds of the third period. Lipskis had 29 saves in the loss for the Windigo. The Windigo had 37 shots on net.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach Blake Hietala had the following thoughts after the weekend series: “We had a great team effort Friday night. Beckford was solid in net and our balanced scoring was great to see. We had a tougher go on Saturday in Chippewa. We seemed to be a little out of sync, with our passing being a little off and giving up more turnovers than I’d like to see. Our power play was clicking all weekend, with 3 goals on Friday and 2 goals on Saturday. It was great to see Everett Pietila be rewarded with 4 goals and 1 assist on the weekend. He’s one of our hardest working players and sometimes doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.”
Up Next: The Windigo host the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Friday, December 15, and Saturday, December 16. The games will feature a 50/50 raffle drawing on both nights benefiting the Northland Pines High School girl’s hockey team. Youth hockey players are invited to skate with the players after Saturday’s game. Game time at the historic Dome in Eagle River is 7pm both nights. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $15 for the reserved access section. Tickets are available at the door or at www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com/tickets.