Wilderness One Win from Advancing Going into Final Weekend of Round 1
NAHL Minnesota Wilderness

Wilderness One Win from Advancing Going into Final Weekend of Round 1

Published on April 24, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release


After winning 2 of 3 last weekend to kick off its Midwest Division Semi-final series, the Minnesota Wilderness have made it to Alaska, seeking to advance in the Robertson Cup playoffs.

After dropping game 1 to the Anchorage Wolverines, 3-2, last Friday, the Wilderness bounced back with two dominant wins, 5-0 and 4-0, in games 2 and 3. Minnesota now leads the best 3-out-of-5 series 2-games-to-1. Game 4 and, if necessary, game 5, will be played in Anchorage this weekend.

Not only did the Wilderness blank the Wolverines on the scoreboard, a "Blanck" led the team offensively.

Ryan Gerlich was Minnesota's starting goaltender in all three contests and became the first Wilderness netminder to post back-to-back playoff shutouts in franchise history. The veteran from Nisswa, MN, made 23 saves in game 2 and 26 in game 3 for the first two post-season shutouts of his junior career.

Meanwhile, forward Talan Blanck was firing anything but blanks at the Anchorage net, registering four goals and four assists. His four goals and eight points equal a franchise record for most points in the first three games of a playoff series.

The NAHL's top two goal-scorers from the regular season are also tied for the lead in goals in this postseason series. Luc Bydal leads the Wolverines with three goals, with all three tallies coming in game 1. Zachary Homer tops the Wilderness with three, as he put up one goal in game 2 and two more in game 3.

Game 4 is slated for Friday, April 24, at 7:30 AKDT at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. If there is a game 5, it will be Saturday night same time and location.

Media: Watch all games on NAHLTV.com.

Playoff series game-by-game

Game # Date Score Location MNW PP ANC PP SOG

1 April 17 ANC 3, MNW 2 Proctor, MN 0 for 2 0 for 2 M30, A29

2 April 18 MNW 5, ANC 0 Proctor, MN 2 for 5 0 for 3 M32, A23

3 April 19 MNW 4, ANC 0 Proctor, MN 1 for 3 0 for 3 M29, A26

4 April 24 TBD Anchorage, AK TBD TBD TBD

5 April 25 (if necessary) TBD Anchorage, AK TBD TBD TBD

Regular Season Tale of the Tape

Team GF GA PP PK

Anchorage 221 (3.75 GFPG) 212 (3.59 GAPG) 39 for 228 (20.1%) 56 for 260 (78.5%)

Wilderness 249 (4.22 GFPG) 148 (2.5 GAPG) 48 for 237 (22.6%) 37 for 224 (83.5%)

Playoff Goalie Comparison

Name Team Games Won/Loss GAA Save %

Ryan Gerlich MNW 3 2-1 1.02 .962

Drake Owens ANC 1 (5 mins) 0-0 0.00 1.000

Kai Weigel ANC 3 1-2 3.79 .878

Top Series Scorers

Name Team Games Goals Assists Points

Talan Blanck MNW 3 4 4 8

Logan Nagle MNW 3 1 3 4

Noah Dziver MNW 2 0 3 3

Luc Bydal ANC 3 3 0 3

Zachary Homer MNW 3 3 0 3

Theo Kiss MNW 3 1 2 3

Avery Anderson MNW 3 1 1 2

Rylan Bydal ANC 3 0 2 2

Ryan DeAngelis MNW 3 0 2 2

Sam Evert ANC 3 0 2 2

Matt Hauser MNW 3 0 2 2

Other Midwest Division Semi-Final Series:

Wisconsin leads Fairbanks 2 games to 1

Game # Date Score Location

1 April 17 WIS 3, FBK 0 Fairbanks, AK

2 April 18 WIS 1, FBK 0 Fairbanks, AK

3 April 19 FBK 3, WIS 0 Fairbanks, AK

4 April 24 TBD Brookfield, WI

5 April 25 (if necessary) TBD Brookfield, WI

Check out the Minnesota Wilderness Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from April 24, 2026


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