Weekly Update: Eagle River, WI, February 12, 2024.
Photos (courtesy Nina Bustiuc): Braydon Beahm (#26) scores a goal. Will Schumacher (#15) shoots and scores on Saturday.
Weekend Recap: The weekend series was a highly anticipated matchup of the two top teams in the Midwest Division. The Windigo held a 4-point edge in the standings. The Jets have two games in hand. The teams split a weekend series earlier in the season in Eagle River. Both teams were red hot going into the weekend. The Windigo were riding high on a 7-game winning streak, and the Jets had won 7 of their last 10 games.
Friday, February 9: Jets 2 at Windigo 4: Tyler Grahme redirected a Daniil Dolzhenko shot from the point to get the scoring going for the Windigo just over 4 minutes into the game. Luke Baker was credited with the second assist. Less than a minute later, Grahme scored his 17th of the season with an emphatic one-timer off a pass from Will Schumacher. John Brown scored his first career NAHL goal to bring the Jets to within one goal before the opening period expired. Jacob Jastrzebski re-established the 2-goal lead just 36 seconds into the middle stanza. Baker and Max Martin worked a give and go at the blue line to execute a clean zone entry. Martin found Jastrzebski dropping into the slot and backhanded the puck to him. Jastrzebski released a shot into the far side of the net. The Jets responded less than two minutes later to close the gap to 3-2. While on a power play early in the third period, Erick Comstock found Martin crossing through the neutral zone. Martin gained the offensive zone and dished the puck off to Schumacher along the far boards. Schumacher released a shot from the faceoff circle, low to the far side of the net. Schumacher’s goal was his 26th of the year, and 6th in the last six games. Max Beckford recorded his 14th win of the season on 18 saves. The Windigo fired 30 shots on the Jets’ net.
Saturday, February 10: Jets 0 at Windigo 5: The depth of the Windigo was on full display Saturday, as 5 different players scored in a convincing win. Tyler Grahme got the Windigo on the board just 1:25 into the game. Grahme’s 18th of the season was assisted by linemates Everett Pietila and Will Schumacher. Defensive play and a strong Windigo forecheck kept the Jets at bay, limiting them to just 6 shots on net during the opening frame. Braydon Beahm scored his 12th goal of the season just over 3 minutes into the second period. Cycling behind the goal line in the corner, Elliot Gulley found Beahm all alone down low in the faceoff circle. Beahm’s quick wrist shot found its mark low to the far side of the net. Less than a minute later, Zach Cline pounced on a rebound off the stick of Daniil Dolzhenko to increase the Windigo lead to 3-0. Logan Nickolaus picked up the second assist on the play. With a 5 on 3 advantage midway thru the second period, Will Schumacher found teammate Max Martin all alone on the far side of the crease. Martin quickly deposited his league leading 33rd goal of the season into the net. Erick Comstock earned the secondary assist on the goal. Chippy play characterized much of the remainder of the game. A total of 20 penalties were called in the third period. Midway thru the final period, Comstock concluded the scoring with a slapshot from the point that found its way thru heavy traffic. Quinn Disher and Elliot Gulley assisted Comstock’s goal. Linards Lipskis recorded his 15th win and 5th shutout of the season in net, registering 21 saves. The Windigo carried the play throughout much of the game, placing 35 shots on the Jet’s net.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach Blake Hietala offered the following after the weekend series: “We’ve been looking forward to this series for a while. The last time the Jets were here, they took two points off of us. The Jets have been playing well and we knew they would be a tough out this weekend. We challenged our guys to play hard and smart for all 60 minutes. For the most part, we accomplished that. We limited their scoring chances. Beckford and Lipskis were tracking the puck well and made key saves when called upon. Grahme took control of the game early for us on Friday. Schumacher and Pietila are really clicking well with him. It was good to see 5 different guys score on Saturday. Sometimes guys like Beahm, Cline, Gulley, Disher and Nickolaus, get overlooked when you have lines like the Martin, Jastrzebski and Baker line playing so well. I like the grit we displayed when we were challenged physically on Saturday. We certainly don’t look to play a chippy style of hockey, but when confronted our entire lineup won’t back down. I like the way they have each other’s back. We face Janesville six more times this season, we need to continue to keep our composure and focus on beating them on the scoreboard.”
Up Next: The Windigo embark on a seven-game road trip. First up is a visit to Janesville, in a re-match with the Jets on February 16-17. The Windigo then head further south to Springfield, IL, to faceoff 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.