October 8, 2012 at 2:37 p.m.
Hockey: Street Cats earn first victory
Rhinelander wins Saturday night game, splits with Tennyson
Hockey: Street Cats earn first victory
In the third game for the Rhinelander franchise in the Midwest Junior Hockey League, the Street Cats held off a late rally from Tennyson Chevrolet of Brownstown, Mich. to earn the club's first victory, 5-4, Saturday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
The momentum did not carry over as the Chevys salvaged a split of the two-game series with an 11-1 rout Sunday.
Tennyson played with a much larger bench than Rhinelander, a fact that caught up with the Street Cats as the weekend progressed.
"We play(ed) against (a) very strong team and dominated for two periods of (the) game," Rhinelander coach Igor Myaskovskiy said. "Then in third period, and all game on Sunday, we stopped. Let's be realistic. Twelve players cannot play against 24."
Rhinelander (1-3-0-0) took a 5-2 lead in Saturday's contest, thanks to a four-goal second period, only to have Tennyson storm back on a Jonathan Hultgren goal 6:49 into the third period to pull to one goal down.
Tennyson (4-1-0-0) pulled goalie Christopher Boyd with 1:10 remaining, but was unable to generate much pressure with the extra attacker. A Timothy Mushman cross-checking penalty with 10 seconds remaining ended Tennyson's chances.
Rhinelander forced Tennyson Chevrolet's netminders to work without much rest, totaling 31 shots and forcing 26 saves. Boyd made eight stops and Brian Ellis made 18. The Cats' power play unit failed to produce, and was held to zero goals on 10 chances.
Rhinelander was helped by Dylan Farmer, who grabbed two goals and one assist. Farmer scored the first of his two goals shorthanded at 13:59 into the first period to make the score 1-0. Rustam Kuts picked up the assist. Farmer's next tally made the score 3-1 Rhinelander Street Cats with 14:25 left in the second period.
Devin Vander Wyk had one goal and one assist. Rhinelander also got a goals from Blake Rowe and Peter Carlin.
"It was result of our practices and game discipline," Myaskovskiy said of Rhinelander's offensive barrage in the first two periods of Saturday's game.
Tennyson's offense rang up 43 shots on Rhinelander's net. Spencer Brasswell rejected 39 shots on goal for the Street Cats.
The Chevys were led by Ryan Brown, who racked up two goals and one assist. Brown scored twice in the second period as Rhinelander held a 5-3 lead heading to the dressing room.
Rhinelander fell behind early Sunday and Tennyson kept piling on the points on the way to an 11-1 victory.
Joseph Matyaszek finished with a hat trick and two assists, Kenneth Winter had two goals and an assist, and Brown had one goal and three assists for the Chevys.
Tennyson outshot Rhinelander 59-39 in the game. Kent Nusbaum took the loss for Rhinelander who made 37 saves in just under 31 minutes of work. Mark Lingofelt made 11 saves the rest of the way.
Tennyson busted out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, tacked on a fifth goal 35 seconds into the second period and another late in the period. Nick Fleming got Rhinelander on the board with 1:37 remaining in the game, scoring on a power play.
Play beacme physical in the third period as the teams exchanged four fighting majors, two roughing double minors and two other roughing penalties. The game featured 20 penalties and 58 penalty minutes.
Rhinelander will return to action Oct. 19-21 when it hosts the Soo Firehawks for a three-game series at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. Myaskovskiy said the team hopes to add more players to the roster before those games.
"We have (a) very short bench," he said. "This is our biggest problem and No. 1 priority to work (on). We (are) waiting for players (from) overseas, USA and Canada now."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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