CLOQUET, Minn. — In a weekend series against the NAHL’s Midwest Division-leading Minnesota Wilderness, the Wisconsin Windigo fought hard, but could not come out with any wins. The Wilderness won the opener 4-1 on Friday and then needed a shootout to win Saturday, 2-1.
Coming into the weekend, Windigo coach Blake Hietala liked how his team was prepared to face the Wilderness.
“I liked where we were as a team heading into this series,” he said. “We knew the Wilderness would be a good test.”
Coming into the weekend, the Windigo (11-8-3-1 overall) had been getting tremendous offensive output out of forwards Max Martin, Tyler Grahme and Will Schumacher. Everett Pietila had quietly gotten off to a strong start as well, with 21 points through 23 games.
However, none of those four players found the scoresheet against the Wilderness.
“They were successful in shutting down our top scorers,” said Hietala. “Our effort was good both nights.”
Friday night, the two teams were deadlocked at 0-0 heading into the middle frame. The game remained that way until the Wilderness (10-6-2 overall) broke through at 10:48. They added two more to take a 3-0 lead just 6:33 into the third.
Looking for a spark of any kind, the Windigo got it in the form of Elliot Gulley, who scored his first career goal just 50 seconds after the Wilderness’ third tally. Gulley was below the goal line and he banked the puck off of Minnesota goaltender Adam Prokop and in.
Hietala pulled goaltender Max Beckford late in the contest, but the Wilderness got control of the puck and potted an empty-netter to close out the scoring at 18:27.
Saturday night saw the Windigo drive play to the Wilderness throughout much of the first half of the game, which eventually led to a goal from forward Braydon Beahm at 16:08 of the middle frame. Beahm fought for position in front of Prokop, took a pass from forward Jacob Jastrzebski and he turned and buried a quick shot from the top of the crease for the goal.
An untimely penalty in the offensive zone put the Wilderness on the man advantage in the late stages of the middle frame, and they were able to even things with just eight seconds left.
The Windigo threw 20 shots at Prokop in the third period, but could not solve him again.
After a scoreless overtime, the two teams went to a shootout. Defenseman Daniil Dolzhenko was the lone Windigo skater to score in six rounds. The Wilderness got goals from Peteris Purmalis, to answer Dolzhenko’s tally, and Daniel Astopovich to win the contest.
“We certainly played well enough to win on Saturday,” Hietala said. “To hold a team like the Wilderness to only 18 shots on net is a testament to how good of a team we can be defensively.
“You have to give credit to their goaltender for giving them an opportunity to push it to a shootout.”
UP NEXT
The Windigo will remain on the road this weekend as they take on the Chippewa Steel on Friday and Saturday nights. The Steel enter the weekend as the fifth place team in the Midwest Division and are three points behind the Windigo, who remain in second with 26 points.
Wisconsin also has a rematch series with the Wilderness on the horizon during the opening weekend of December at the Eagle River Sports Arena.
“The Wilderness will be a tough out all season, but we are looking forward to seeing them in the Dome in a couple of weeks,” said Hietala. “I’m certain that those games will be exciting and fun to watch. We are looking forward to the rematch and the opportunity to pick up some points on them at home.”