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St. Louis Park 2, CL1

St. Louis Park scored with less than one minute remaining to break a 1-1 tie and send the Wildcats down to a 2-1 defeat Tuesday, January 15 at Chisago Lakes Arena.

Things looked good early in the second period as Wildcat goalie Tyler Krumm made a great save on a breakaway just one minute into the period. And, a minute after Krumm's save, Tommy Johnson scored an unassisted goal putting the Wildcats up 1-0. Krumm made another save on a partial breakaway just under a minute later to keep the Wildcats on top. But the Wildcats took a tripping penalty at neutral ice halfway through the period, and St. Louis Park scored on the ensuing power play to tie the score at 1-1.

The two teams continued to battle evenly throughout the third period, and it looked like the game was headed to overtime. But, the Orioles scored on a partially-screened slapshot from the left point with 57 seconds remaining. The last-minute goal gave the Orioles a 2-1 win over the Wildcats.

Krumm stopped 18 of 20 shots in the loss.

SCORING SUMMARY

St. Louis Park 0 1 1-2

Chisago Lakes 0 1 0-1

1st Period

No scoring.

2nd Period

CL 1 Johnson (unassisted) 2:07; SL 1 Voss (Albersheim-Carter, Schlegel) (pp) 8:52

3rd Period

SL 2 Schlegel (Wood) 16:03

Spring Lake Park 5, CL 4 (OT)

After an exciting three periods of hockey, highlighted by Nick Bratrud's hat trick, the Wildcats and Spring Lake Park were knotted at four goals apiece. But the Panthers stunned the Wildcats by scoring just eight seconds into overtime to win the game 5-4 and send the Wildcats down in their second crushing, last-minute defeat in a row.

The Wildcats completely dominated the first period and looked like they were going to run away with this one. Just over two minutes in, Bratrud skated into the Panther zone down the left side and left a drop pass for Derek Budde. Budde shot the puck on net from about ten feet away. Bratrud, who by now had crossed to the bottom edge of the right circle, knocked in the rebound to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Bratrud bookended the period by scoring his second goal with just over two minutes remaining, this time on a wicked slapshot from the high slot. The Panthers scored with just under a minute left in the period to cut the Wildcat lead to one.

The Wildcats bumped the lead back to two with a power play goal five minutes into the second period. Cale Arhart ripped a slapshot from the left point, and Tommy Johnson tipped it past the Panther goalie. Still leading 3-1, the Wildcats took a cross-checking penalty at the 12:33 mark. The ensuing faceoff was in the right circle in the Wildcat zone. The Panthers won the draw and fired a quick shot, beating Wildcat goalie Tyler Krumm just three seconds after the power play began. The Panthers tied the game on a shot from the middle of the slot that went just under the crossbar with a little less than two minutes remaining in the period.

Bratrud completed his hat trick five minutes into the third period. He got a pass from Jon Lien at his own blue line and skated down the right side into the Panther zone one-on-one. Bratrud lasered a slapshot toward the net from the middle of the right circle, putting the puck in the upper left corner to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead. The Panthers tied the game with six minutes remaining, sending it into overtime.

The Panthers won the opening faceoff in overtime, skated into the Wildcat zone and fired a quick shot. Krumm made the initial save, but the Panthers slammed in the rebound to quiet the raucous crowd and beat the Wildcats 5-4.

It was the most exciting Wildcat boys' hockey game this season from a fan's standpoint, even though the outcome was disappointing for the fans, team and coaches. The game featured great shooting, great saves by the goaltenders, crushing hits and some noticeable on-ice tension between the two teams. The referees did a good job keeping this one from getting out of hand by calling penalties when any pushing and shoving started. But, since many of the penalties were offsetting, they didn't interfere with the flow of the game.

SCORING SUMMARY

Spring Lake Park 1 2 1 1-5

Chisago Lakes 2 1 1 0-4

1ST Period

CL 1 Bratrud (Budde), 2:10; CL 2 Bratrud (unassisted) 14:36; SL 1 Lundquist (Benson) 16:07

2nd Period

CL 3 Johnson (Arhart) (pp) 4:58; SL 2 Hertog (Graves) (pp) 12:36; SL Bevers (McCoy) 15:05

3rd Period

CL 4 Bratrud (Lien) 4:59; SL 4 Bevers (unassisted) 10:31

Overtime

SL Bevers (Lundquist) 0:08

Saves: CL Krumm 20, SL Nelson 22

The Wildcats play just one game this week, hosting Robbinsdale Cooper this Friday, January 25 at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.

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