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After rattling off wins in 12 of their last 15 games, the Wildcats boy’s hockey team has lost three of their last four games to drop to 13-9-1 for the season.
 
Cambridge-Isanti 4, Chisago Lakes 2
The Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets scored with just under two minutes left in the second period and added an insurance goal at 10:24 of the third period to beat the Wildcats 4-2 Tuesday, February 7 at Isanti Ice Arena.  The Bluejackets outshot the Wildcats 37-24 for the game.

 Cambridge got on the scoreboard at 5:20 of the first period.  Tim Madden scored a power play goal to tie it up for the Wildcats just 34 seconds later, assisted by Nick Jinks and Cullen Dorcas.  The Bluejackets re-took the lead with a power play goal of their own at 1:15 of the second period.  Nik Jinks tied it with an unassisted goal just over five minutes later.  Cambridge answered with a late-period goal to take the lead for good at 3-2.  And, as mentioned above, the Bluejackets scored the game’s final goal with six minutes to go in the third period to make the final score 4-2.
 
Chisago Lakes 11, Northern Edge 3
Jack Bakken, Nik Jinks and Cullen Dorcas scored two goals apiece as the Wildcats thrashed Northern Edge 11-3 Thursday, February 9 at Chisago Lakes Arena.  Jinks had three assists to go along with his two goals, making it a five-point night.

 The Wildcats led 2-0 after the first period.  Early in the second period, the teams combined for three goals in just 26 seconds.  Henrik Lind scored for the Edge at 2:24, assisted by Milo Hetland, to cut the Wildcat lead to 2-1.  Just 17 seconds later, Loghan Croal – the leading scorer for the Edge – scored to tie the game at 2-2, with the single assist going to Charles Hoffman.  But the tie was short-lived – very much so, in fact – as just nine seconds later, Bakken scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Dorcas and Nate Bluhm, to give the Wildcats the lead at 3-2.  The Wildcats led 6-3 by the end of the second period, and added five more goals, unanswered, in the third period to make the final score 11-3.

 Five Wildcats has a single goal apiece:  Dustin Palewicz, Dylan Dassner, Griffen Perreault, Andrew Swanson and Brock Thompson.  Dorcas, Tim Madden, Bluhm, Thompson, and Nolan Purdy each had two assists.  And picking up one assist apiece were Bakken, Palewicz, Drake Thyen, Ben Kerkow, and Joe Alexander.
 
Princeton 5, CL 3
Trailing 4-1 after Princeton scored early in the third period, the Wildcats scored twice to cut the Tiger lead to 4-3 and kept up the pressure, outshooting Princeton 19-8 in the third period.  But the Tigers scored an empty-netter with 50 seconds to go to seal a 5-3 win Saturday, February 11 at First Bank & Trust Ice Arena in Princeton.  Nate Bluhm had a hand in all three Wildcat tallies, with a goal and two assists.  The Wildcats outshot the Princeton 41-31 for the game.

Special teams were big in this game, figuring in six of the game’s eight goals.  The Tigers scored a power play goal and a shorthanded goal late in the third period to go up 2-0.  Nate Bluhm scored a power play goal at 2:10 of the second period to cut the Princeton lead to 2-1.  But the Tigers built their lead to three goals with an even strength goal with less than three minutes to go in the second period and another shorthanded goal at 1:46 of the second period.  The Wildcats responded with two power play goals.  Cullen Dorcas scored at 9:56, assisted by Bluhm and Jack Bakken.  And Drake Thyen put one in the back of the net at 13:29, with assists going to Bluhm and Nik Jinks.  But that was as close as the Wildcats would get, with the late empty-net goal putting the game out of reach.     
 
Minneapolis 4, CL 1
The Wildcats and the Minneapolis Novas played a clean, fast-paced game Monday, February 13 at Chisago Lakes Arena.  The game was essentially decided in the second period as the Wildcat offense and defense both seemed to take a break.  The Novas outshot the Wildcats 12-3 for the period and turned their 1-0 lead into a 3-0 lead.  The Wildcats played much better in the third period, scoring midway through the final frame to cut the Nova lead to 3-1.  But the Novas sealed the win with a late goal to win 4-1.  Just two penalties were called on each team during the game.

 Minneapolis took a penalty with the game less than two minutes old.  The Wildcats didn’t do much with the power play, and the Novas scored a shorthanded goal with two seconds left in the penalty to go up 1-0.  Both teams showed off their speed for the rest of the period, but evenly split just 12 shots on goal for that period.  The Novas scored three minutes into the second period to go up 2-1.  The Wildcats took their first penalty of the game at 7:07 of the second period, and Minneapolis took advantage of it with a power play goal at 8:18 to increase their lead to 3-0.  The teams played even hockey for the first few minutes of the third period.  Ben Kerkow’s goal at 6:54, assisted by Andrew Swanson and Max Bobrowski seemed to energize the Wildcats, who turned up the pressure as they strived to tie the game.  But the Novas held off the Wildcat offense and turned their level of play up with five minutes to go in the game, not allowing any more Wildcat scoring opportunities and not allowing them a chance to pull goalie Jack Hanson for any meaningful length of time.  Minneapolis scored with 29 seconds left in the game to win 4-1.
 
Hockey Hullaballoo
Senior defenseman Nate Bluhm continued his recent scoring binge.  He has recorded points in seven of the last nine games, with four goals and 11 assists during that span.

With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Wildcats hope to get back on the winning track heading into the section playoffs.  In their final home game of the season, the Wildcats will host the Providence Academy Lions (14-9-0) tonight at 7 p.m. at Chisago Lakes Arena.  The regular season will end this Saturday when the Wildcats take on the Simley Spartans (8-14-2) at Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights at 7 p.m.
 
Section 4AA playoffs begin next Thursday, February 23 at Aldrich Arena in White Bear Lake, where all tournament games will be played.  Depending on seeding, the Wildcats will open the tournament on either February 23 or February 24.  We will have a section playoff preview in next week’s Press.

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