Spooner, Wis – Penalties made all the difference in Spooner as Red Lake scored 2 power play goals and a 3rd just after a Lumberjacks penalty expired to win 4-3.
The Lumberjacks jumped out to an early lead in the first game of this series when Dylan Olson forced a turnover in the neutral zone and scored from just inside the blue line on a shot Red Lake goalie Jack Osmond never saw through traffic. Wisconsin dominated early but then the penalties started. Salvatore Poggiali and Connor McClure both got 5-minute majors and game misconducts in the first and second respectively. By the time the 2nd major was done Red Lake was up 3-1 getting a power play goal from Jacob Lamoureux in the 1st, a score from Carter Albrecht later, and the second power play goal from Trevor Sanderson in the 2nd.
When asked about the improvement in his team with the man advantage, Miner’s coach Kevin Walker said, “We didn’t change much from a scheme standpoint. Our guys just really turned up the intensity, and drive. They were aggressively looking for passes and goals instead of just moving the puck around the zone.”
Jack Osmond was great all night making some acrobatic saves and keeping his team out in front for much of the game. Opposite Osmond was Emmett Doherty who stopped multiple breakaways and odd man rushes to keep the game close.
Lumberjack’s alternate captain Zach Carson touched on his goalie’s performance, “Emmett did a great job keeping the game close, but we have to be better in front of him. We need to block more shots and tighten up our transition defense, so teams don’t get so many good looks on our goalies.
The Jacks wouldn’t score again until the third period. Ryder McMillen scored on a great shot to beat Osmond 7 minutes into the 3rd. Drake Flynn in his first game as a Wisconsin Lumberjack scored a rebound on a hectic sequence to tie the game with 10 minutes remaining. But with 5 to go it was a great setup pass from behind the Wisconsin net off the stick of Colton Hlavay that found Kyle Schechtel who buried it giving the win to Red Lake the lead and eventual win.
Coach Walker after the game spoke about the two players who won hardware last month in Lamoureux and Osmond, “both those guys are great representatives for our team, they show up and work their hardest day in, day out and that showed up throughout the month of October. They helped us pick up some big wins at home and even though we have struggled on the road this is our 2nd straight away win and things are certainly picking up.”
Doherty stopped 32 shots for the Lumberjacks and Osmond saved 36 in a winning effort.
Attendance was 247 at the Spooner Civic Center where the 2 teams will face off again tonight.