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Spring Lake Park 5, Chisago Lakes 0
The quest of the Wildcat boys’ hockey team to make a second straight appearance at the state tournament ended with a 5-0 loss to top-seeded and much bigger Spring Lake Park in the Section 5A championship game Thursday, February 26 at Isanti Arena.

Trailing 2-0 late in the second period, the second-seeded Wildcats had a great opportunity to cut the Panther lead to one.  

Wildcat goalie Jake Dubose anticipated a pass from right to left in front of the crease and slid left to be in perfect position to stop a one-timer and keep the score at 2-0.   

Seconds later, Landon Lushanko got loose on a breakaway for the Wildcats’ best scoring chance of the night.  But the Panther goalie made the save to keep the score at 2-0.  Early in the third period, the Wildcats found themselves two men short for over a minute.  The Panthers took advantage of it, scoring at 4:11 of the period to go up 3-0.  They scored again a minute later.  

The Wildcats had a 5-on-3 advantage for over a minute midway through the period, but didn’t score.  The Panthers added another goal a couple of minutes later to seal the win.

SLP features two regular defensemen over 6’4”, and for most of the game, they had their way physically with the ‘Cats.

Dubose kept the Wildcats in the game in the first period as Spring Lake Park applied a lot of pressure and outshot the Wildcats 10-4.  Dubose made three nice saves in a one minute stretch just before the midpoint of the period to keep the game scoreless.  But the Panthers eventually scored and the Wildcats trailed 1-0 going into the first intermission.

 The Panthers scored again at 6:38 of the second period to go up 2-0.  

The Wildcats stepped it up and played their best hockey of the night in the second half of the second period, but they couldn’t get on the scoreboard.  And the Panthers dominated the third period, continuing to score goals while keeping the Wildcats at bay.

The Panthers had the advantage on special teams, scoring on three of six power play opportunities.  The Wildcats were shut out on all five attempts they had with a man advantage.  The Panthers outshot the Wildcats 31-19 for the game.

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