Wilderness One Win Away from Finals Thanks to Blanck Hat Trick and OT Winner
NAHL Minnesota Wilderness

Wilderness One Win Away from Finals Thanks to Blanck Hat Trick and OT Winner

Published on May 17, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release


For the first time in the 2026 Robertson Cup playoffs, the Minnesota Wilderness took game 1 of a playoff series Friday night, with a 4-3 overtime win over the Austin Bruins at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, MN.

That victory gives Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Robertson Cup Semifinal round, and a chance to win the series Saturday night and advance to the league championship set for Tuesday, May 19.

Talan Blanck scored three goals, including the OT game-winner, while Valdemar Andersen stopped 27 Bruin shots to earn his third straight victory in net.

Olle Karlsson posted one goal while Noah Dziver, who was celebrating his 21st birthday Friday, and Zachary Homer recorded two assists.

Single assists went to Matt Hauser and Bryce Dahl.

Blanck's winning tally came 6:48 into the extra frame. Moments after he fired the puck off the crossbar, Minnesota maintained pressure. Homer followed by denying a clearing attempt and then fired a shot from the top of the right circle that Bruin goaltender Cody Butikis swatted toward the left boards. Dahl retrieved it and sent it toward the net with Blanck between the crease and the left circle and he sent it into the goal off the tip of his stick where it beat Butikis on his glove side.

"To be honest with you, I thought the first one went in, but obviously it didn't after watching it back", said Blanck of his shot that bounced off the crossbar.

Blanck added that typical playoff games cannot be won with just "pretty" goals and eventually goals that just happen by getting sticks into the right places will need to be scored too.

"I think we had three pretty goals," said the veteran from Fond du Lac, WI, "the last one, right in front of the net, that's the dirty goal we needed."

Blanck's first two tallies and Karlsson's red-lighter would count as the "pretty" goals of the game.

Blanck's first goal tied the game 1-1 toward the end of the first period. After Matsvei Marschanok put Austin in front 1-0, 5:23 into the frame, the Wilderness countered with a power play goal with 3:46 left highlighted with slick puck movement. From the high slot, Hauser first fed the puck to Dziver in the left circle. Dziver then followed with a pass to Blanck in the right circle who followed with a shot that darted past Butikis on his stick side.

Blanck then gave Minnesota its first lead of the game when he completed a 3-on-2 break with Dziver and Homer. Skating through the right circle, Dziver fed the puck to Homer along the right boards who fired a shot that Butikis saved but sent the rebound to Blanck as he skated through the left circle. Blanck had a mostly wide-open net to shoot at, as he scored to make it 2-1 with 53 seconds left in the first.

Austin responded by dominating the second period, outshooting Minnesota, 15-5, but unable to fire anything past Andersen. The Bruins would eventually tie the game, but it was until the third period, as Marschanok posted his second tally of the game short-handed with 9:39 remaining.

Austin then carried momentum to another goal that put the Bruins back in front. E. J. Paddington made it 3-2 with a marker coming with 6:16 left in regulation.

Yet, the Wilderness were not done, and it was defenseman Olle Karlsson who came through with the tying goal.

After collecting the puck in the Minnesota defensive end, Karlsson skated up the middle, across the Austin blue line, dangled around a defenseman toward the goal and tossed the puck through the legs of Butikis with 3:23 on the third period clock.

That goal swung momentum back to the Wilderness who dominated the overtime, outshooting the Bruins, 7-2.

Meanwhile, Blanck's three tallies gave him Minnesota's first playoff hat trick in franchise history. They also allowed him to overtake Homer for the team and NAHL lead in playoff goals, which now sit at a franchise best-ever at 10. In addition, Blanck's 19 post-season points tie a team record, originally set by Darian Romanko in 2015.

With his two assists, Homer moved into a tie for another franchise record. Homer now has points in nine consecutive games, which equals another mark set by Romanko in 2015.

Austin's short-handed goal notwithstanding, Minnesota's special teams also played a key role, as Austin could not convert a single power play goal, going 0-for-three. The Bruins finished the regular season with the NAHL's best power play success rate at 28.9%.

The Wilderness went 1-for-4 on the man-advantage.

Minnesota outshot Austin 30-29. Butikis made 25 saves as he suffered his first post-season loss.

Game 2 of the playoff series vs. the Bruins is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. CDT at Fogerty Arena in Blaine.

Check out the Minnesota Wilderness Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from May 17, 2026


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