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Totino Grace 7, Chisago Lakes 2

Despite being outshot by the Wildcat boys' hockey team 35-27 for the game, the Totino Grace Eagles continued their historical domination of the Wildcats with a 7-2 win last Tuesday, January 12 at Chisago Lakes.

The Wildcats started well, getting on the board less than three minutes into the first period. Tommy Johnson picked up the puck along the side boards in the Eagle zone and ripped a slapshot on net. Riley Doriott crashed the net and put away the rebound for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. The Eagles scored twice later in the period and led 2-1 going into the first intermission.

The Eagles opened the game up in the second period, scoring the game's next three goals to take a 5-1 lead. The Wildcats cut the lead to three with three minutes left in the period. Andrew Habel picked up a loose puck in the Eagle zone and passed it to Doriott in front of the Eagle net. Doriott shot into the goalie, and the puck ended up lying in the crease. Johnson got to the puck first and chipped it underneath the goalie and into the back of the net. But that was the end of the scoring for the Wildcats. The Eagles added two more goals in the third period to make the final score Totino Grace 7, Chisago Lakes 2.

"We came into this game on an emotional high'" said Wildcat head coach Corey McKinnon. "Our guys were really excited about playing Totino. But I think we were too excited and lost some of our energy about halfway through the first period. As coaches, we need to make sure our guys don't come into a game too high or too low. Emotional rollercoasters like that are devastating, especially against a good team like Totino. They're one of the faster teams we've played."

Chisago Lakes 1, St. Louis Park 1 (OT)

A bad line change on a penalty kill proved costly to the Wildcats as St. Louis Park scored a power play goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 1-1. Neither team scored in overtime, though the Orioles rang one off the pipe. So both teams left the St. Louis Park Recreation Center last Saturday with that vaguely unsettling feeling of being happy they didn't lose, but knowing they could have won the game.

The Wildcats scored their only goal halfway through the first period. Tommy Johnson passed the puck to Matt Petersen at the top of the right circle. Petersen, a lefty, cut to the middle and snapped off a shot that beat the goalie and rang off the center bar just underneath the crossbar for a resounding 1-0 lead.

With a 1-0 victory within reach, the Wildcats took a penalty with two minutes left in regulation. They killed off most of it. But as they scrambled to get in position, the puck came out to the left point in the Wildcat zone. An Oriole defenseman ripped a slapshot. Two Oriole players screened Wildcat goalie Kyle Buchanan, who never saw the puck as it zipped into the net to tie the game. The Wildcat actually had two more good looks at the net in the final 19 seconds, but couldn't put one away and the game went into overtime.

The Wildcats had a couple more opportunities in overtime. St. Louis Park came very close to scoring, ringing one off the pipe. "It really would have been a sour ending to the game if that puck had gone in," said McKinnon. "For the most part, we bottled them up through the game."

McKinnon said "We had legitimate scoring chances to take the lead throughout the game, but just couldn't put the puck away. Their goalie played really well to keep them in the game and gave them an opportunity to salvage a tie. Kyle Buchanan played a nice game in the nets for us, too, making all the save he needed to. One thing that didn't help us was suspect penalty-calling. They called six penalties on us to one for the Orioles."

Each team ended up with 30 shots for the game.

The Wildcats play Irondale tonight at the Schwan's Super Rink at 7:30 p.m. This Saturday, they'll host Minnehaha Academy at 6 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena. And next Tuesday at Chisago Lakes Arena at 7 p.m., they'll seek revenge against Spring Lake Park for a loss earlier this season.

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