NAHL Minnesota Wilderness

Wilderness Eke out Shootout Win over Steel

Published on November 19, 2021 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release


Sam Livecchi made 33 saves and stopped 5 of 6 in a shootout to lead the Minnesota Wilderness to a 3-2 victory Thursday night over the Chippewa Steel.

Livecchi earned his 4th win on the season, and made several key saves throughout the night, including one on a breakaway in the 5-minute overtime when he denied Steel leading scorer Ethan Benz.

The Wilderness ended up with 2 shootout goals, Will Persson scored in the 3rd round and Barrett Hall put one past Steel goaltender Zach Hansen in the 6th to put the Wilderness in front 2-1. Livecchi then clinched the victory when he denied a chance by Barak Braslavski.

It was a tight neck-and-neck battle that was scoreless through most of the first period before Cole Crussberg-Roseen scored for Minnesota to give them a 1-0 lead with 3:14 left. A penalty at the ensuing faceoff then led to a power-play for Chippewa who wasted little time tying things up. J.J. Grainda scored the tying goal just 8 seconds after the Wilderness opened the scoring.

The 1-1 score remained all the way through the 2nd, despite a flurry of good chances for Chippewa. The Steel outshot the Wilderness in the middle frame by a 12-5 count, but the game remained tied, mostly due to Livecchi's clutch goaltending.

The Steel did breakthrough to take a 2-1 lead early in the 3rd. Barak Braslavski was able to get one into the back of the net just 1:22 into the final frame. However, the Wilderness were able to get a little more pressure in the latter stages of the period, and tied things thanks to a wrist shot in the slot from Ethan Wolthers. Wolthers' 7th of the season came with 5:00 minutes left in the 3rd, and the 2-2 deadlock remained through the rest of regulation and the 5:00 3-on-3 overtime.

The win improves the Wilderness record to 12-7-1 on the season, and snaps a 2-game losing streak. The Steel meanwhile suffered their first loss outside of regulation, and fell to 12-10-1. The win moves Wilderness into a tie in the Midwest Division standings with the Steel. Currently they are in a 3-way tie for 3rd place (the other team being Anchorage).

The Wilderness and Steel will tangle again Saturday in the 2nd game of the home-and-home series. Game 2 is set for 7:15pm at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet.

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North American Hockey League Stories from November 19, 2021


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