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The Wildcat boys hockey team started the season 0-4-1, but then started winning and haven’t stopped.  They have now won ten of their last 12 games.
 
Chisago Lakes 7, Pine City 2
Playmaker Cullen Dorcas had three assists for the Wildcats, including two in a wild second period, as the Wildcats extinguished the Pine City Dragons 7-2 Tuesday, January 24 at the Pine City Civic Center.  The Wildcats outshot the Dragons 36-32 for the game, and Wildcat goalie Jack Hanson stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced to pick up the win.

Cam Stangl opened the scoring with a goal at 3:37 of the second period, assisted by Dylan Dassner and Griffen Perreault.  Two minutes later, Pine City - who outshot the Wildcats 19-12 in the period – scored twice in a one-minute span to go up 2-1.  But it was all Wildcats after that, at least on the scoreboard.  The Wildcats scored three more times in the period to go up 4-2:  Jack Bakken, from Dorcas and Owen Fitzgerald; Joe Alexander’s first goal of the season, from Tim Madden and Max Bobrowski; and a power play goal by Drake Thyen, from Nik Jinks and Dorcas.

The Wildcats stretched their lead to 5-2 on Thyen’s second goal of the game at 11:11 of the third period, with assists going to Jinks and Brock Thompson.  The Wildcats added two more goals in the last two minutes of the game.  Jinks scored, unassisted, and Ben Kerkow put one in the back of the net, assisted by Bakken and Dorcas.
 
Chisago Lakes 4, Tartan 3
Jack Bakken scored 57 seconds into overtime to give the Wildcats a 4-3 win over the Tartan Titans Thursday, January 26 at Tartan Arena in Oakdale.  Tartan had tied the score at 3-3 with just 14 seconds left in the third period to force overtime.

Joe Alexander had a breakaway just over nine minutes into the first period, but Alexander’s shot toward the lower left cornet was stopped by Tartan goalie Ben Bangura  Just 30 seconds later, Alexander sent a pass from the right half wall to Max Bobrowski about five feet in front of the net.  Bobrowski one-timed it through the five hole, and the Wildcats led 1-0.  Austin Slettom picked up the other assist on Bobrowski’s goal.  With ninety seconds to go in the second period, as he was falling to the ice Nik Jinks sent a pass to Tim Madden at the right point. Madden snapped a shot to the front of the net.  Brock Thompson was right there to pick up the rebound, and flipped a backhander inside the left post to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0.

At 5:21 of the third period, a shot from the point bounced off the wall behind the net to Tartan’s Colin Kammerer standing at the left corner of the net, and he backhanded it inside the left post to pull the titans within one.  Two minutes later, the Titans had a two-on-one.  Cameron Sachs took a shot from the top of the right circle and continued toward the net.  Wildcat goalie Jack Hanson made the initial save, but the puck slid a few inches to his right and Sachs knocked the puck into the net to tie the game at 2-2.  The Wildcats re-took the lead at the 11:43 mark of the third period.  Dustin Palewicz picked up the puck from in front of his own net and sent a long pass down the left side.  A streaking Nate Bluhm picked up the puck just inside the left point and fired a shot from the middle of the right circle into the upper right corner of the net to put the Wildcats up 3-2.  The Titans pulled the goalie late in the third period.  With 14 seconds remaining, Kammerer ripped a shot from the high slot past Hanson and into the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3.

Early in overtime, Bakken picked up a long pass from Cullen Dorcas just outside the right point and skated into the Titan zone three-on-two.  He took a shot from the left edge of the right circle.  Bangura  got his stick on it, but the puck popped over his stick and into the net to give the Wildcats an exciting win.
 
Chisago Lakes 5, St. Paul Academy 0
Last Saturday afternoon at Chisago Lakes Arena, the Wildcats put on a clinic about how to play a solid high school hockey game.  Their opponents, the St. Paul Academy Spartans, played their part.  The Wildcat offense showed how to take advantage of scoring opportunities.  The defense made sure most of the Spartans’ shots were from a distance or from a difficult angle.  And goalie Jack Hanson played yet another solid game, positioning himself well to stop every shot, including a couple of highlight film saves.  The Wildcats were successful on all three of their penalty kills, and scored on their only power play opportunity.  Only four penalties were called in the game, three on the Wildcats.  When it was all over, the Wildcats came away with a 5-0 shutout win.

Griffen Perreault scored twice in the first period to put the Wildcats up 2-0.  Dylan Dassner and Cam Stangl assisted on the first goal, and Nate Bluhm and Stangl picked up the assists on the second goal.  Joe Alexander, who has picked up a point in each of the last three games, scored midway through the second period, assisted by Max Bobrowski and Andrew Swanson.  Drake Thyen scored late in the period to make it 4-0.  Nik Jinks and Brock Thompson picked up the assists on Thyen’s goal.  And Jack Bakken, the hero of the overtime win over Tartan, scored a power play goal early  in the third period, assisted by Bluhm and Thyen, to make the final score 5-0.
 
Hockey Hullaballoo
The Wildcats (10-6-1) will host the Two Rivers Warriors tonight at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.  They will play again at home on Saturday, welcoming the Pine City Dragons to Lindstrom for a 7 p.m. rematch.  And on Tuesday, February 7, the Wildcats will travel to Isanti Ice Arena to take on the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets at 7 p.m.

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