Weekend Recap: In the opening weekend of the New Year, the Windigo hosted the Kenai River Brown Bears in a two game series. The Brown Bears made the 3,462 mile trip from Soldotna, AK, to Wisconsin, first to take on the Janesville Jets on January 4, in Janesville, WI, and then headed north to face the Windigo. The two teams met earlier this season, with the Windigo sweeping the Brown Bears in Eagle River on September 29-30. The teams split the October 20-21 series in Alaska. Going into the weekend, the Windigo held third place in the Midwest Division and Kenai River seventh.
Friday, January 5: Kenai River 1 at Windigo 2: The first period saw the Windigo outshoot the visitors by the narrow margin of 10 to 9. The Brown Bears registered several grade A scoring chances in the period, only to be stymied by the exceptional goaltending of Max Beckford. League scoring leader Max Martin opened the scoring 12:06 into the second period with a 4 on 3 power play goal. Windigo defenseman Erick Comstock fed the puck down low to Jacob Jastrzebski who circled around to find Martin open in the high slot. Martin’s wrister cleanly found the back of the net. The Windigo increased their lead to 2-0 just under five minutes into the third period. Jacob Jastrzebski won a defensive zone faceoff which was picked up by Martin. Martin headed up ice and slid the puck over to newly acquired Ethan DeKay. The Mississauga, ON, native and Michigan Tech NCAA D-1 commit, carried the puck into the offensive zone. He then crossed the high slot going from right to left, then shot back across the grain to beat the Kenai River goaltending high on the glove side. Just under four minutes later, Kenai River scored to come within one goal of the Windigo. In an attempt to tie the game, Kenai River responded with significant pressure in the Windigo end, outshooting the Windigo 15 to 9 in the third period. Beckford recorded his 7th win of the season by turning aside 31 of 32 shots faced. The Windigo registered 32 shots on net. The Windigo were 1 for 9 on power play attempts, while the Brown Bears were 1 for 8 with the man advantage.
Saturday, January 6: Kenai River 4 at Windigo 7:In stark contrast to the tight checking and highly disciplined play on Friday night, Saturday’s game was characterized by defensive lapses that resulted in a high scoring affair. Ethan DeKay opened the soring for the Windigo, picking up his second goal in as many nights. Mario DiMaggio and Jacob Jastrzebski picked up the assists. Jastrzebski (from Erick Comstock and Everett Pietila) increased the Windigo lead to 2 to 0 just over a minute later. Kenai River answered mid-way thru the first period, cutting their deficit in half. Max Martin potted two goals in under a minute to increase the Windigo lead to 5-1. Kenai River responded with a goal of their own, only to see Max Martin complete is hat trick to close out the scoring in the first period. Martin’s goals were assisted by DeKay, Jastrzebski, Pietila, Tyler Grahme, Sam Groebner and Mario DiMaggio. Kenai River posted the lone goal in the second period to close the gap to 5-3. Martin’s hot hand continued, scoring just over a minute into the third period. Martin’s fourth of the night was assisted by Jastrzebski and DeKay. Kenai made it 6-4 when Nicholas Stevens scored his 15th of the year, just two minutes later. Windigo defenseman Erick Comstock scored his 7th goal of the year while on the power play off a one-timer to the far side of the net. Pietila and Jastrzebski picked up the assists on the final goal of the game. Windigo netminder Linards Lipskis recorded the win in net for the Windigo with 21 saves on 25 shots faced. The Windigo fired 40 goals on the opposing net.
Coach’s Comments: Windigo head coach Blake Hietala had the following thoughts after the weekend series: “It was important to gain a sweep this weekend. This is the time of year that we must get 4 points during a home weekend against opponents trailing us in the standings. Kenai River gave us all we could handle on Friday. I give them a lot of credit, after having played in Janesville the night before. Beckford was clutch in net and our key players found a way to score. Saturday was a completely different game. Lots of chippy play went unnoticed by the officials and we suffered some injured players as a result. We had some defensive breakdowns that we must correct if we’re going to make a run at the division lead. The line of Martin, Jastrzebski and DeKay was phenomenal for us all weekend. Martin had 5 goals and 1 assist, DeKay had 2 goals and 2 assists, Jastrzebski had 1 goal and 6 assists during the weekend. We have a tough opponent in the Wilderness coming up next weekend. We need to play better defensively to win against a strong team like that.”
Up Next: The Windigo host Midwest Division rival Minnesota Wilderness on January 12-13. Game time at the historic Dome in Eagle River is at 7pm Central Time. 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.