December 15, 2017 at 2:41 p.m.
Hodags blank Tomahawk to improve to 7-0-0
Hodags blank Tomahawk to improve to 7-0-0
Underclassmen scored all six Rhinelander goals and sophomore Seth Stafford recorded 12 saves Thursday as the Hodags improved to 7-0-0 on the season with a 6-0 shutout of Tomahawk at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Freshman Conor Pequet scored twice in the win for the Hodags (4-0-0-0 Great Northern). Fellow Freshman Harlan Wojtusik scored a goal and sophomore Abe Laggis contributed four assists on the night.
"We've got a good core of juniors, several seniors that are very good players and we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who are contributing and scoring goals," coach M.J. Laggis said. "You can see that we have some freshmen that are big-time contributors and sophomores that are big-time contributors. That's a good thing."
The Hodags scored three times in a 2 minute, 7 second stretch midway through the first period and never looked back, outshooting the Hatchets 41-12 for the contest. The breakaway chances that M.J. Laggis feared the Hatchets (3-4-0, 1-4-0-0 Great Northern) could create never developed.
"We definitely planned for their odd-man situations," he said. "I think the last two years in Tomahawk they were behind us the entire night. We were hypersensitive to it. We tried to take that away and a big focus of our team is odd-man rushes and taking them away. Through seven games we've done that."
Danny Zuiker got the party started on the power play with blast from the high slot that barely snuck inside the left post off an Abe Laggis pass at the 6:01 mark of the first. Freddy Wisner beat Tomahawk goalie Shawn Dirkx on a 2-on-1 breakaway at the 7:40 mark and Pequet scored the first of his two goals just 28 seconds later, banging home a rebound off an Abe Laggis shot.
"We've been like that this year where we struggle, we struggle, we struggle. Then we get one to fall and all of a sudden, bam, bam, bam, we get a couple," coach Laggis said. "It's fun to score like that. It takes the pressure off your defense. It takes the pressure off your goalie.
"We talked a lot about starting fast and not having a slow start. I thought we did that. We had a lot of pressure and we converted them into goals."
Wojtusik scored moments after a power play expired at the 2:03 mark of the second, walking through the slot and scoring on a one-timer off an end line pass by Wisner. Bridger Flory tipped in a Laggis shot from the point on the power play with 55 seconds remaining to give the Hodags a 5-0 lead through two periods.
The Hodags finished 2 for 5 on the power play Thursday after going 3 for 6 two nights earlier in a 4-1 win at Medford.
"You can see how hard we're working on the power play," coach Laggis said. "We're creating a lot of chances, in particular with that unit of Bridger, Harlan and Abe, Freddy and Danny. It's been pretty good."
Pequet poked in a rebound off a Cole Spaulding shot 3:50 into the third to send the game into running time with the Hodags ahead by six goals.
The news was not all good for Rhinelander, however. Laggis said both Zuiker and Cole Spaulding sustained shoulder injuries during the contest. How much time the two may miss was not immediately known, but Laggis said he did not expect to have either ready for Friday night's game at Wisconsin Rapids, which concluded after deadline.
"Danny, we need him defensively big time and Cole Spaulding, he's the heartbeat of our team," Laggis said. "He's gritty. He's hard. He plays in the dirty areas of the rink and I've been waiting for guys like that for a long time. Now we have them. He's not the guy we need hurt, that's for sure."
The Rapids game kicked off a tough three-game road trip for the Hodags before the holiday break. Rhinelander travels to Lakeland Tuesday before squaring off with fellow conference unbeaten Northland Pines next Thursday in Eagle River.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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