It was a series-clinching weekend on the road for the Wisconsin Windigo, as the team clinched a 3-1 series win with two wins in Rice Lake against the Chippewa Steel in the NAHL division semifinals.
Wisconsin opened the weekend with a 3-2 overtime victory and clinched the series with a 7-3 win Saturday night after a strong push by Chippewa late in the game cut the Windigo’s lead to one.
“It was great to close out the series in four games. Chippewa had come on strong the past several weeks of the season and they were a tough out. Overall, I was pleased with our effort both nights. Our forecheck and speed kept them penned up on Friday,” said Windigo head coach John Mitchell. “Lucas Szyszka deserves much of the credit for the win on Saturday. They came on strong in the third period and Szyszka was up to the task. He also helped settle his teammates down and got them to re-focus their efforts after Chippewa scored their third goal.”
Wisconsin opened the night by grabbing an early advantage on the road about six minutes into the contest. All of its scoring came in the first period, as Chippewa’s Devin Shakar kept the Steel in the game by stopping all 27 shots he faced in the second and third periods.
Logan Nickolaus gave Wisconsin the 1-0 lead at 6:01 of the first, off assists by Zach Cline and Theodore Richardson.
First-line winger Jackson Ernst made it a 2-0 game as he fired one off his stick at 14:42 of the first. That would be the score at the first intermission.
Chippewa tightened up defensively in the second and limited Wisconsin to a scoreless showing on just six shots on net, while the Steel scored on one of their eight shots.
The tally came at 4:42 of the middle period, cutting the Windigo lead down to one as the buzzer rang for the second intermission in a 2-1 contest.
Three seconds into a Wisconsin checking from behind penalty, the Steel found the equalizer to make it a 2-2 game with just under 11 to go in regulation. Both teams burned off that time without another goal, forcing an overtime period where over half the period went by before a game-winner.
Nate Farrell connected with the back of the net at 10:40 of the sudden-death period to push the series to 2-1 in favor of the Windigo.
In a must-win game for Chippewa in front of its home fans, it got on the board one minute into game four in an attempt to rattle
Wisconsin early. Six minutes later, Mario DiMaggio tied things up as the two sides skated evenly for the opening 20 minutes. The second period is where Wisconsin made a point, outscoring Chippewa 3-0 in the period. Richardson made it 2-1 midway through the second, while Alexios Georgaklis scored another roughly 20 seconds later to grab a two-goal advantage, 3-1. Braydon Beahm took advantage of a power play with about four minutes left in the second and beat Shakar to make it 4-1 after two periods.
The Steel made a strong push early on in the third, getting two goals back quickly at 1:11 and 8:42 of the period. The Windigo played nearly half of the third in on the penalty kill after serving and killing off three of the four penalties. In a 4-3 game with about 11 minutes to play, Wisconsin closed the door with three unanswered goals with less than five minutes remaining to seal the win. The Windigo were outshot 37-20 in the win.
“We now turn our focus to Anchorage. They are playing well and capable of mounting an explosive offensive punch,” stated Mitchell. “We are looking forward to a great series with them.”
With the Windigo getting home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, and the distance to Anchorage, Alaska, the league brings a slider schedule into place. Here are the two scenarios for how the series can play out.
Scenario 1: If the Windigo win both games one and two:
Game 1 - May 2, 7 p.m. at the Eagle River Sports Arena
Game 2 - May 3, 7 p.m. at the Eagle River Sports Arena
Game 3 – May 9, 7:30 p.m. AKDT at the Sullivan Arena
Game 4 (if necessary)– May 10, 7:30 p.m. AKDT at the Sullivan Arena
Game 5 (if necessary) – May 11, Time TBD (could be 4 p.m. AKDT or 6 p.m. AKDT) at the Sullivan Arena.
Scenario 2: Anchorage wins either game one or game two:
Game 1 - May 2, 7 p.m. at the Eagle River Sports Arena
Game 2 - May 3, 7 p.m. at the Eagle River Sports Arena
Game 3 - May 4, 6 p.m. at the Eagle River Sports Arena
Game 4 (if necessary) – May 9, 7:30 p.m. AKDT at the Sullivan Arena
Game 5 (if necessary) – May 10, 7:30 p.m. AKDT at the Sullivan Arena.
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