Granite City Lumberjacks 3
Minnesota Owls 2
Not even the frigid air felt the past week could slow down the surging Lumberjacks and their recent play of great hockey. Their recent style of grand play has enabled them to create a positive buzz around the MJHL. This aforementioned buzz has stirred the pot holding the playoff match-ups, thus making Saturday’s game with the Owls one of high importance. The Minnesota Owls came into town on Saturday looking to put a damper in all the excitement being felt around the Granite City; however, the Lumberjacks would prevail with an entertaining come-from-behind 3-2 victory.
The game began with a cluster of flurries made by both teams in the oppositions’ zones without any real great scoring chances; however the scoring chances would quickly pick up midway through the opening frame with the Owls having the first real opportunity to score first. The Owls would indeed break through in the scoring column first with a power play goal at the 16:22 mark. The goal would come on a nice backdoor pass from #23 Justin Neis to #29 Jakub Simicek. The Owls goal would account for the only scoring in the period and send Minnesota into the first intermission with the slimmest of leads.
The middle frame would begin with the Owls capturing the back of the net once again. This power play goal would come just 54 seconds into the period and give the Owls a 2-0 lead. The Lumberjacks thought they had the answer with an obvious tip-in-goal by #07 Tyler Sura; however, the goal would be disallowed due to the referee believing the goal was kicked in. The game would remain 2-0 Owls until #16 Paul Hawthorne got the Lumberjacks on the board due to a pretty pass made by #09 Sean Kenny. Goalie, #01 Tyler Venne, would get credited for the other assist on the goal. The period would end with the Lumberjacks hanging tough and down by only one goal.
The final period between the teams would begin with the Lumberjacks striking early. #17 Nick Ellis would score on a beautiful tick-tack-toe play from #16 Paul Hawthorne and #05 Matt Johnson. The tie would only last 6 minutes before #05 Matt Johnson would score the game-winner at 8:56. #18 Tyler Wahl and #21 Matt Hepperly would pick up the helpers on the goal. The Owls would respond by playing solid hockey the final portion of the game, but without any success on the scoreboard. #01 Tyler Venne played brilliantly the final three minutes to secure the win for the Lumberjacks.
The win is the Lumberjacks sixth in the past seven games.
3 stars of the game:
#01: (#05) Matt Johnson: 1 G, 1 A
#02: (#16) Paul Hawthorne: 1 G, 1 A
#03: (#01) Tyler Venne: 32 saves, 1 A
Granite City Lumberjacks 3
Wisconsin Mustangs 2
After an emotional come-from-behind win the night before, the Lumberjacks returned to the ice Sunday looking to tame those pesky Wisconsin Mustangs. The Mustangs entered the city limits of St. Cloud boasting a 32-3-2-1 record and an overall season mark against the Lumberjacks 3-0; however, Sunday’s game was a game set to be won by the team who would compete for the full 60 minutes.
The first period opened with fans pouring through the doors of the MAC hoping to watch their hometown favorites knock off the #1 team in the league. From the drop of the opening puck to the final buzzer, both teams would play hard and fight for a hard fought victory. Both teams would battle throughout the first period without any compensation in the scoring column. The Mustangs would fire 17 shots at #30 Justin Lochner in the first period, but still find themselves scoreless heading into intermission.
The beginning of the second period belonged to the team wearing their home white jerseys. The Lumberjacks would play smart hockey using a steady fore-check and superb back checking to keep the game in reach until they could break through on the scoreboard. #12 Aaron Filstrup would pick up his first Lumberjacks goal at the 9:48 mark on a pretty one timer from #19 Alex Naujokas. #15 Kevin Bergquist would be credited with the other assist on the goal. Fans had yet to settle into their seats when #18 Tyler Wahl netted another goal for the Lumberjacks just 59 second later. The Willmar native’s goal would make the score 2-0. Single assists were given to #02 Radko Langfelder and #03 Bradley Phenow. The wild Mustangs came stampeding back though in the final ten minutes of the period with two power play goals. The Lumberjacks would outshoot the Mustangs 11-9 in the period, but find themselves knotted at 2.
The final frame of the game was one set by theme wrapped around the notion to shoot first, pass second. Both teams would combine to brigade the goalies with a total of 27 shots; however, the lone goal would come in favor of those cheering on the Lumberjacks. #18 Tyler Wahl would score the game-winner at the 9:50 mark on an assist from #09 Sean Kenny. A solid and eventful home crowd erupted into a long boisterous cheer upon completion of the game.
The Lumberjacks will have one more home game this Wednesday night before heading out to Wisconsin this weekend for two more games against the Mustangs. Drop of the puck will be at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.
3 stars of the game:
#1: #30 Justin Lochner-41 saves
#2: #18 Tyler Wahl- 2 goals
#3: #19 Alex Naujokas- 1 assist