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Chisago Lakes 8, Monticello 4
Against the Monticello Magic Tuesday, January 12, Landon Lushanko scored his second hat trick of the season.  Two of his goals were part of a six goal outburst in the third period that wiped out a 3-2 deficit and led the Wildcat boys’ hockey team to an 8-4 win over the Magic.  Lushanko had two assists in the game for a total of five points.  Playmaker Brandon Caudill also had five points, on a goal and four assists.  The game was played at Moose Sherritt Ice Arena in Monticello.

The game was really decided in a five minute stretch at the beginning of the third period.  With the Wildcats trailing 3-2 after two periods, Tyler Stilp got things going with an unassisted goal just 21 seconds into the final frame to tie things at 3-3.  Lushanko scored almost exactly a minute later, assisted by Caudill and Adam Hanson, to put the Wildcats ahead for the first time in the game.  The Magic took a major penalty for head contact at 1:50 and the Wildcats took advantage of the resulting five minute power play.  At 2:09, Stilp scored again, with assists going to Lushanko and Caudill.  And exactly two and a half minutes later, Lushanko completed his hat trick, assisted by Chasse Heiskala and Stilp, to put the Wildcats up 6-3.  The Wildcats later added goals by Caudill (assisted by Cooper Hoheisel and Lushanko) and Cristian Haskins (assisted by, who else, Caudill), sandwiched around a Magic goal, to make the final score 8-4.

Lushanko and Hoheisel each scored in the second period to offset a first period goal and two second period goals by Monticello to keep things close.  Nicholas Bartz and Caudill assisted on Lushanko’s goal and Andrue Trelstad picked up the lone assist on Hoheisel’s goal.  The Wildcats outshot the Magic 28-17 for the game, for a total of 45 shots in a game that produced 12 goals.  The Wildcats went two for three on the power play and Monticello converted just one out of five chances.
Wildcat head coach Paul Gibson said, “It was nice to show our potential for offensive productivity. We felt like we just weren't getting any breaks up to this point. We told the guys, the harder we work the luckier we will get. This certainly held true in the third period of this game. We also knew that no team is in better shape than we are, spending the summer and winter with strength and conditioning coach Colonel Kim.”
 
St. Michael-Albertville 6, Chisago Lakes 0
Bryce Thompson spent last Thursday evening in Albertville having hard rubber projectiles fired at him from all angles, as the Wildcats took on the St. Michael-Albertville Knights in a Mississippi 8 Conference game.  It was not a pretty sight if you were a Wildcat fan.  The Knights outshot our favorite felines 62-12 for the game.  Thompson was the lone bright spot for the Wildcats, stopping 56 of the 62 shots he faced.  Thompson’s 56 saves match the unofficial team record set by Tommy Fitzer against Cloquet/Esko/Carlton in February of 2005.  Fitzer also faced 62 shots.
 
Rogers 4, Chisago Lakes 1
Thompson once again showed off his solid skills in the net as he faced another barrage from the Rogers Royals and helped keep the Wildcats in the game until late in the third period.  Despite being outshot 47-16 for the game, the Wildcats were down just 2-1 until the Royals scored a power play goal at the 12:15 mark of the third period. Rogers added another goal two minutes later that essentially shut the door on any Wildcat comeback aspirations.  The game was played  Saturday afternoon, January 16, at Chisago Lakes Arena.

Halfway through the first period, the shots were even at eight apiece.  After that, the Royals outshot the Wildcats 39-8 for the rest of the game.  The Royals scored the only goal of the first period with six minutes remaining.  The Wildcat defense backed off a little too much as a Royal forward went left to right through the slot and the Royal player top shelfed one on a sprawling Thompson to put the Royals up 1-0.  Rogers added another goal 28 seconds into the second period.  Halfway through the period, Hunter Koesters picked up a puck at center ice, skated hard into the left circle and ripped a low shot through the five hole and into the back of the net to cut the Royals’ lead to one.  It was the Wildcats’ first shot on goal of the period.  Less than a minute later, Brandon Caudill came down the right side of the ice and, from the red line, passed the puck to Andrue Trelstad near the left point.  Trelstad skated a couple of strides into the Royal zone and fired a wristshot that beat the goalie but clanked off the left post and bounced harmlessly into the corner, keeping the score at 2-1.

Midway through the third period, Thompson made a couple of beautiful pad saves to keep the Wildcats in the game.  The Wildcats took a penalty with about six and a half minutes left in the game that proved costly.  With about 20 seconds left in the power play, the Wildcats got  hold of the puck in the left corner and fired it towards the other end of the ice.  A Rogers player blocked it with his chest at the blue line, picked up the puck, carried it toward the net and scored to put the Royals up 3-1.

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