Windigo Split Home Series with In-state Rival Janesville Jets
Up Next: Road Trip to Alaska to face the Kenai River Brown Bears and Anchorage Wolverines.
The Wisconsin Windigo hosted in-state rival Janesville Jets at the Dome in Eagle River, WI, on October 14 and 15.
Friday, October 14: Janesville Jets 1 at Wisconsin Windigo 3 – After a closely contested scoreless first period in which the Jets outshot the Windigo by a slim margin of 11 to 9, the Windigo broke the ice six minutes into the second period on a goal by newcomer Logan Nickolaus. The goal came off a pass from below the goal line from Tyler Grahme. Crossing uncontested low in the slot, Nickolaus took the pass and faked a forehand shot before deking the goalie and burying his first North American Hockey League goal with a backhander to the far side. “Mahony and Grahme did a great job cycling along the end boards to set up Nickolaus. Logan made a great move to get their goalie to bite and finish the play off his backhand. I like the energy that line showed all night,” commented Windigo head coach Blake Hietala after the game. The Jets tied the game less than two minutes later. The Windigo regained the lead 16:50 into the second when Ben Anderson buried his own rebound from the top of the crease for his first goal of the season. Anderson’s goal came off a centering pass from Cam Boche. Drew Fisher had the second assist on the goal. Just 20 seconds into the third period, defenseman Cashen Naeve put the Windigo up 3 to 1 on his second goal of the season. Again, the Windigo applying pressure below the Jet’s goal line resulted in the scoring opportunity as Sam Jacobs found his teammate dropping into the low slot. The second assist went to Chris Kernan. Windigo goalie Max Beckford saved 28 of the 29 shots he faced for his third win of the season. “Max played the type of game we expect from him. After a nagging injury, he’s starting to find his game,” continued coach Hietala.
Saturday, October 15: Janesville Jets 2 at Wisconsin Windigo 0 – After an evenly matched first 10 minutes of play, the Jets struck first to gain the lead. The Jets went up by 2 at 4:04 of the second period as Jimmy Doyle scored his seventh goal of the season. From that point forward the Windigo carried the play and applied consistent pressure on Jets goalie Selby Warren. The Windigo outshot the Jets 13 to 7 in the second period and 16 to 3 in the third. “After Friday’s game, I thought we were about to break out and start scoring in bunches. Tonight, we took a step backward in that regard. This was the sixth game of the season in which we out-played and out-chanced our opponents but had difficulty scoring. We have a talented team, and I am confident our guys will start finding the back of the net,” stated coach Hietala after the loss. Warren turned back all 33 shots he faced to record the shut out. Windigo goalie Max Beckford saved 16 of the 18 shots he faced in the contest.
Up Next: October 21 and 22 – Away Games vs Kenai River Brown Bears – The Windigo commence a nine-game road trip next week with a long trip to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, to face the Kenai River Brown Bears. They will stay in Alaska the following weekend for a three-game set against the Anchorage Wolverines. Receiving no mercy from the schedulers, the Windigo will then return to the lower 48 states for away games against the Chippewa Steel on November 4 and 5. The Windigo finish their longest road stint of the season in Janesville, WI, against the Jets on November 11 and 12.