Wilderness Sweep Windigo to Continue New Year Dominance
NAHL Minnesota Wilderness

Wilderness Sweep Windigo to Continue New Year Dominance

Published on February 10, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release


When the calendar changed from 2025 to 2026, the Minnesota Wilderness shifted to another gear.

Since the new year began, the Wilderness have yet to suffer a regulation loss, and this weekend, they extended a franchise record streak of consecutive games with at least one point to 15. Minnesota swept the Wisconsin Windigo with identical scores of 4-2 Friday and Saturday nights at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet. Minnesota

Those victories concluded the 8-game season-series with the Windigo with the Wilderness winning the final three games, after Wisconsin skated to victory in the first five contests.

Eight different players scored goals for Minnesota in the weekend series. Anthony Capello led the offensive charge with three points, generating a goal and two assists.

A 2-point weekend from Noah Dziver allowed him to make history. Saturday, the Wilderness co-captain reached 61 points in his season total, which ties the franchise record.

Defensively, the Wilderness cracked down on the Windigo, keeping their shots on goal down to a combined 38 for the two games, after Wisconsin averaged over 32 shots per game in the previous six meetings.

Minnesota (31-7-4) continues a 6-game home stand next weekend as the Anchorage Wolverines visit Cloquet. Both contests in the Friday/Saturday series (Feb. 13-14) are set to begin at 7:15 p.m. CT.

Friday: Wilderness 4, Wisconsin 2

Minnesota took command of Friday night's soiree by producing a 3-0 advantage into the initial stages of the second period.

Talan Blanck opened the scoring thanks to a feed from Anthony Capello 1:58 into the first period, which gave Blanck his 20th goal of the season.

With 13:12 left in the opening session, Zach Homer redirected a Noah Dziver shot to light the lamp for the 27th time of the campaign. Olle Karlsson assisted on the tally which made the score 2-0.

Minnesota then stretched the lead to three early in the second period. Homer set up Theo Kiss with his fourth goal of the season 5:09 into the frame. After receiving a pass from newcomer Joseph Luger along the right boards in the Windigo zone, Homer caught Kiss wide open near the left post, where the veteran from Slovakia was able to toss the puck into a wide-open net for what ended up being the game winner.

Former Wilderness Alexios Georgaklis put the Windigo on the board with 5:53 left in the middle session. He was followed by Jackson Ernst scoring with 3:35 remaining to make it a one-goal game going into the third.

The Wilderness then held off the Windigo in the third period with a surge that included 1:31 of a 5-on-3 power play. That was when goaltender Valdemar Andersen stood tall and denied multiple attempts by Wisconsin to tie the game.

Minnesota tacked on one more goal when Avery Anderson notched his 10th of the season on an empty net with 34 seconds left in regulation.

Wisconsin outshot Minnesota, 20-15. Andersen earned his 19th win in net, stopping 18 Windigo shots.

Easton Cody suffered the loss by making 11 saves on 14 shots.

Both teams were scoreless on the power play on four chances.

Saturday: Wilderness 4, Wisconsin 2

A 3-goal second period broke a 1-1 tie and was enough for the Wilderness to complete the weekend sweep.

Robinson Djian, Joseph Luger and Noah Dziver scored over a 2-minute timeframe. It began when Anthony Capello and Andrei Gudin won a puck battle along the right-wing wall in the Windigo zone. Capello then sent the puck to Djian in front of the Wisconsin net who fired in his 9 th of the season at the 5:18 mark of period 2.

1:42 later, Luger padded the Wilderness lead when he threaded the proverbial needle by sneaking the puck just between the left arm of goaltender Max Larsson and the adjacent post with a shot from above the right circle. River Freeman assisted on the marker, which was Luger's first with the team in his second game after the Wilderness acquired him in a trade with the Oklahoma Warriors.

Another right-wing wall puck battle then led to Dziver's goal. Theo Kiss this time was the one who dug the puck free and found Dziver alone in front. Dziver then roofed a shot to give him 23 goals for the season and bring his point total even with the team's single season record of 61.

All this scoring activity followed a first period which saw single goals from both teams. Anthony Capello picked up the game's opening goal. Deegan Hoffbauer assisted on Capello's seventh of the season, which came at the game's first stoppage, at the 3:20 mark.

Jordan Stange answered for the Windigo less than three minutes later to tie the game at one.

Only one goal was scored in the third period. Wisconsin's Declan Burns fired in the weekend's only power play goal with 1:02 left on the clock to cut his deficit to two.

Two Windigo penalties in the final minute helped Minnesota kill the clock and nail down the victory.

On the power play, Wisconsin went 1-for-3, while the Wilderness failed to score on three chances.

Minnesota outshot the Windigo, 24-18. The Wilderness' Ryan Gerlich came through with the victory by making 16 saves. Max Larsson was in net for Wisconsin (25-17-1) and finished with 20 saves to take the loss.

Check out the Minnesota Wilderness Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2026


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