Photos: (Courtesy Jacob Heid, Vilas County News-Revies and Everett Mecham)- Harper Frey (#2) defends against the rush; Lucas Szyszka makes a save with Alexios Georgaklis (#12), Wyatt Herres (#10) and Nate Farrell (#5) defending; Wyatt Herres celebrates his goal on Friday with Beau Altman, Ben Aucoin, Braydon Beahm and Felix Haibock in the background; Nate Farrell (#5), Luke Baker (#19) and Braydon Beahm (#11) prepare for a faceoff.
Weekend Recap: For the third consecutive season, the Windigo advanced to the NAHL Robertson Cup Midwest Division championship series. For the second consecutive season, their opponent vying for the right to advance to the Robertson Cup semi-finals in Blaine, MN, are the Anchorage Wolverines. Given the fact that the Windigo won the regular season Midwest Division Championship, the Windigo were to hold home ice advantage in the series. However, given the travel distance, the NAHL instituted a “slider” in the scheduling of these games. The Windigo prevailed in game 1 at home, then lost game 2 of the series at home. That resulted in the Windigo hosting a third consecutive game in the series. The balance of the best of five game series will be contested in Anchorage.
Friday, May 2 – Anchorage 2 at Windigo 5 : The Windigo had the wind to their backs from the opening faceoff, unleashing 16 shots on net in both the first period and second periods. However, it was Anchorage who struck first just over five minutes into the contest. Braydon Beahm scored his third goal of the playoffs ten minutes later to tie the game at 1. Hunter Hayes won a puck battle just inside Anchorage’s blue line and slid the puck over to Rio Treharne as he was headed towards the net. Treharne passed the puck over to Beahm, who was crashing towards the far post. Beahm released a quick shot into the gaping net. Anchorage took the lead again 16:31 into the game. Lucas Szyszka made the initial save of a seemingly innocent shot from the point, but an Anchorage player pounced on the rebound and batted the puck between Szyszka’s legs. Ronnie Hill scored his first of three goals on the night, just over five minutes into the second period. Alexios Georgaklis released a shot from the point that bounced off the boards behind the net and over to Jackson Ernst. Ernst back handed the puck to Hill as he entered the low slot. Hill’s one-timer found its mark just inside the far post. Hill scored again 16:23 into the middle frame, as the result of a quick transition pass from Mario DiMaggio, to put his team up 3-2. Shots on net after the first two periods of play tilted heavily in favor of the Windigo by the margin of 32 to 17. The Wolverines seemed to regain their composure in the third period. With 7:34 remaining in the third, Windigo defenseman Wyatt Herres gave the home team the margin of comfort they were looking for with a wrist shot from the point that deflected off an Anchorage player’s stick and into the top near corner of the net. Anchorage found themselves on the power play with over five minutes remaining and pulled their netminder in favor of a sixth attacker. Georgaklis intercepted a pass in his zone and headed up ice. As he gained the neutral zone, it was evident that he had a clear shot at the open net 110’ feet away. He spotted teammate Ronnie Hill to his right and passed the puck to him. Hill released a shot from just outside the blue line to score on the empty net and complete his hattrick. Lucas Szyszka earned the win in net for the Windigo, making 21 saves. Michael Manzi suffered the loss with 33 saves.
Saturday, May 3 – Wolverines 2 at Windigo 1 (OT) : Game two of the series featured a dominating performance by the Windigo, from start to finish. Quality scoring chances and shots on goal (47 to 29) heavily favored the Windigo. Braydon Beahm scored what turned out to be the only Windigo goal just 1:41 into the game. Windigo defenseman Michael Ryan fed fellow blueliner Mario DiMaggio with a cross-ice pass. DiMaggio spotted Beahm in the neutral zone heading up ice and passed the puck to him. Beahm eluded one Wolverine defender at center ice and entered the offensive zone. He released a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that sailed under Anchorage netminder Michael Manzi’s arm and into the net. That would be the only goal scored for the next 52 minutes of play. The Windigo had many high-quality scoring chances, outshooting their opponents 12-4 and 14-5 in the first two periods, but Manzi stymied the Windigo time and again. Anchorage mounted a strong push in the third period, outshooting their hosts 14-10. A questionable charging call against the Windigo, that was clearly embellished by the Wolverines’ netminder, resulted in an Anchorage power play. With the man advantage, the Wolverines tied the game with 3:51 remaining. Despite a breakaway and two additional scoring opportunities in the waning seconds of regulation play, the Windigo were unable to get the puck past Manzi. The Windigo continued to carry the play in overtime, outshooting Anchorage 11 to 6. With 6:21 remaining in the overtime period, Daniel Bagnole picked up the puck and headed into the Windigo zone. He gained the edge on a Windigo defender as he reached the faceoff circle and released a shot that sailed over the top of Szyszka’s right shoulder and into the net. Szyszka finished the game with 27 saves. Manzi picked up the victory for Anchorage making 46 saves.
Sunday, May 4 – Wolverines 0 at Windigo 4 : Perhaps fueled by the bitter taste of defeat the previous evening, the Windigo played with grit, determination and discipline from the opening faceoff in game 3 of the series. Fifteen minutes into the opening frame, Ben Aucoin checked an Anchorage player in the corner and dislodged the puck. Zach Cline picked it up and attempted a pass to Hunter Hayes along the high boards. An Anchorage player intercepted the pass and attempted to pass it to a teammate exiting the zone. Hayes swatted at that pass and the puck slid over to Teddy Richardson, who was all alone in the low slot. Richardson’s shot beat the Anchorage netminder low to the blocker side. The first period closed with the Windigo holding a 7 to 3 advantage in shots on net and a 1-0 lead. Logan Nickolaus scored his third goal of the playoffs just over a minute into the second period. Richardson separated an Anchorage defender from the puck behind the Anchorage net and passed it to Nickolaus at the top of the goal crease. Nickolaus released a snapshot into the far side of the net. Zach Cline scored at 8:07 of the middle frame to put the Windigo up 3-0. Rio Treharne dropped the puck back to Alexios Georgaklis at the top of the faceoff circle. Georgaklis released a shot from the hash mark along the boards which Cline redirected into the next. With three minutes remaining in the second period, the Windigo were awarded a power play opportunity after the Wolverine’s Cole Frawner executed a dangerous checking from behind play and was sent to the sin bins, a familiar place to him this past season. Hunter Hayes won the ensuing offensive zone faceoff, and Jackson Ernst tapped the puck back to Nate Farrell. Farrell slid the puck over to Michael Ryan. Ryan gave the puck back to Farrell at the top of the zone. Farrell spotted Hayes circling high to his left. Hayes dropped into the faceoff circle and threaded a shot between two Anchorage defenders and just inside the far post to give the Windigo a 4-0 lead heading into the second intermission. Anchorage came out strong in the third period and outshoot the Windigo 9 to 3. Windigo netminder Beau Altman was up to the task and preserved his 22 save shutout in net. Michael Manzi suffered the loss in net for Anchorage with 17 saves.
Coach’s Comments: Head coach John Mitchell had the following to say after the weekend series: “Going into the weekend, we felt that this series was going to be a battle of will and a battle of attrition. It is certainly shaping up that way. I liked our effort all three nights. Overall, our team speed and relentless forecheck was the difference. It was nice to see Ronnie Hill get rewarded for his efforts with the hattrick on Friday. Alexios made a very unselfish play to give him that empty netter. For most of Friday and Saturday, we carried the play to them. They seemed to use a shorter bench, and we may have worn them down. We had several great scoring chances, including breakaways, but couldn’t convert. We had many opportunities to win that game in regulation and keep it from going to overtime. Once you get into overtime, anything can happen. I was hoping we would rebound with an intense effort on Sunday, and we did just that. Perhaps the bitter taste from Saturday’s loss provided some extra motivation for the guys on Sunday. I was impressed with Beau Altman’s play in net. That was a gutsy performance by him. He wasn’t expecting to play, and we had to put him in the lineup at the last minute. We are getting scoring up and down the lineup now, which is nice to have in the playoffs. We will have our work cut out for us up in Anchorage next weekend. They will have a huge crowd supporting them and will come out hard. We will focus on being prepared for that and continue to play aggressive, yet disciplined hockey.”
Up Next – The best of five game Midwest Division playoff championship series moves to Anchorage, AK, on Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10 (if necessary). If the Windigo win on Friday or Saturday, they will advance to the Robertson Cup semi-finals to be held in Blaine, MN, on May 16-18. The single, winner take all, Robertson Cup championship game will be held in Blaine, MN on May 20. Watch the games live, or on demand, on NATV. Subscribe at www.nahltv.com. Let’s go Windigo!