January 21, 2013 at 2:28 p.m.
Street Cats sweep Lightning by matching 7-4 scores
Street Cats sweep Lightning by matching 7-4 scores
The Cats took control with three early goals Saturday in a 7-4 win at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. Sunday, the Cats didn't lead until 7:30 remaining in the third but still defeated the Lightning by the same 7-4 margin.
Saturday: Rhinelander 7, Great Lakes 4
The Cats scored three times in the first 8 minutes, 6 seconds of Saturday's game and the Lightning was unable to recover.
Peter Carlin delivered the first blow, just 30 seconds into the contest. Nick Fleming and Sergey Deev also lit the lamp in the first period as the Cats took an early 3-0 lead. A Colton James' tally at the 12:11 mark made it 3-1 after one period.
That's the way the score remained until the midway point of the second period, when Russian imports Kirill Kulakov and Aleksandr Ilin scored back-to-back goals 48 seconds apart to give Rhinelander at 5-1 lead. James brought Great Lakes to within 5-2, but Dylan Farmer answered at the 17:12 mark of the second to restore the four-goal lead.
A pair of Mitchel Mergel goals closed the gap to 6-4 early in the third, but Farmer buried his second goal of the night with 14:53 remaining to round out the scoring as both teams showed signs of fatigue. Because of delays in a peewee hockey tournament held earlier in the day, Saturday's game did not start until shortly after 10 p.m. The game ended shortly after midnight.
Rhinelander had a 40-32 edge in shots on goal. Kent Nusbaum turned aside 28 shots in the victory.
Sunday: Rhinelander 7, Great Lakes 4
The Street Cats made a furious rally Sunday, scoring five times in the third period to finish off the sweep.
Farmer scored what proved to be the game-winner at the 12:30 mark of the third and added three assists.
James and Taylor Cutting traded goals as the teams finished the first period deadlocked 1-1. Jacob Bradley and Vander Wyk exchanged goals in the first 2:23 of the second and Mergel scored for the Lightning at the 18:39 mark to give Great Lakes a 3-2 lead after two.
Andrew Defauw made it 4-2 Great Lakes 27 seconds into the third, but the Cats fought back. Todd Huotari began the rally with a goal at the 5:54 mark. Antigo's Caleb Stolzman tied the game at the 11:50 mark and Farmer followed with the go-ahead tally 40 seconds later. Dmitry Lvov accounted for the final margin. He scored with 2:49 remaining and added an empty-netter with 1:05 to play.
Rhinelander outshot Great Lakes 45-40. Spencer Brasswell made 36 saves in the win.
The Cats (13-15-1-0) are now one game behind Holland for sixth place in the MWJHL standings. The Cats will host Bloomington Friday and Saturday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. Friday's game will begin at 8 p.m. and Saturday's game will start at 7 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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