
First 2025 Road Series Leads to Split with Windigo
January 11, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release
The Minnesota Wilderness and Wisconsin Windigo each earned regulation wins in their Thursday/Friday series this week in Eagle River, WI.
The Wilderness (17-14-3) kicked off the series with a 5-3 win on Thursday, while the Windigo (23-9-3) bounced back Friday with a 4-0 victory.
Thursday: Wilderness 5, Windigo 3
Minnesota stretched its season-high winning streak to eight games with a balanced offensive attack and a strong performance in goal from Valdemar Andersen.
Andersen finished the contest with 39 saves on 42 shots in his first start since Nov. 29, and first start after spending all of December with the Denmark National Junior Team at the World Junior Tournament.
The Wilderness never trailed and had offensive contributions from five different players. Jakeb Lynch opened the scoring on the power play 9:15 into the first period with his 12th of the season.
However, that lead evaporated when Logan Nickolaus answered for Wisconsin with four minutes left in the opening frame.
Minnesota then took command of the game with three consecutive tallies in the second period to take a 4-1 lead. Frantisek Netusil was the first to strike with his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 1:40, Angel Lovecchio followed with his second of the campaign 18 seconds later. Noah Dziver's ninth of the season gave the Wilderness a 3-goal lead with 4:56 remaining.
However, once the middle frame was over, the Windigo would be back within striking distance of tying the game. The Windigo scored twice over the 2nd period's final 3:55 with markers from Declan Burns and the second of the night from Nickolaus.
Yet, the Wilderness held strong in the third period, adding one more goal from Zach Homer, as he deposited his 15th of the season at the 3:32 mark.
The Windigo outshot the Wilderness over the game's final 20 minutes, 16-9, but could not solve Andersen who improved his record to 3-4-1.
For the game, the Windigo finished with a 42-39 shot advantage. Lucas Szyszka and Beau Altman split time in net for Wisconsin. Szyska started the game, but was pulled in the 2nd period after the Wilderness scored its fourth goal. Szyska finished with 14 saves on 18 shots, while Altman stopped 11 of 12.
Two Wilderness players ended with three-point games. Dziver and Homer added two assists to their single goals. Netusil and Lynch added single helpers to give them two points in the game, while Owen Smith also finished with two points as he had a pair of assists. Lucas Jendek also picked up one assist.
On special teams, the Wilderness penalty kill was stellar, keeping the Windigo scoreless on three power play chances, while the Wilderness went 1-for-2 with the man-advantage.
Friday night: Windigo 4, Wilderness 0
Minnesota saw its 8-game winning streak snapped thanks to a solid performance from Windigo netminder Lucas Szyska. Szyska turned aside 25 Wilderness shots, and saw his team score single goals in the first and second periods and two in the third to seal the win.
Ben Aucoin, Beau Kralovec, Jordan Brothers and Harper Frey each scored single tallies for the Windigo. Frey's goal finished the scoring on an empty net with 3:38 left in the third period.
Wisconsin outshot the Wilderness 30-25. Wilderness goaltender Nick Erickson stopped 26 of 29 shots and had his own 7-game winning streak snapped.
Both teams failed to score on the power play. Minnesota had four chances, compared to two for Wisconsin.
Next weekend, the Wilderness will play two games against the Chippewa Steel in a home/home series beginning Nov. 18. The Friday night contest will be in Chippewa Falls, while the Saturday game will be in Cloquet with puck drop at Northwoods Credit Union Arena set for 7:15 p.m.
• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...
North American Hockey League Stories from January 11, 2025
- Weekend Recap January 10-11 - Minot Minotauros
- Brahmas Sweep New Mexico Ice Wolves - Lone Star Brahmas
- Ice Wolves Fall in Shootout to Brahmas - New Mexico Ice Wolves
- McKay's Two Late Goals Energize Bugs to Improbable Sweep Over IceRays - Shreveport Mudbugs
- Black Bears Claw Their Way to Sweep of Mountain Kings - Maryland Black Bears
- Hat Tricks Ground the Aviators in 4-2 Victory - Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks
- Rhinos Fall 7-4 to Jackalopes in Game #1 - El Paso Rhinos
- Home Game Day: Janesville Jets vs. Anchorage Wolverines - Anchorage Wolverines
- Wings Hold Tight Game, But Fall to Bobcats Friday - Aberdeen Wings
- First 2025 Road Series Leads to Split with Windigo - Minnesota Wilderness
- Devlin's Overtime Goal Lifts Wolverines Over Jets - Anchorage Wolverines
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
