February 2, 2018 at 1:09 p.m.
Baffled by the Birds
Lakeland scores late, downs Hodags 6-3
Baffled by the Birds
Benson scored three times in the game, including two in the final three minutes of the contest, and his linemates Max Toijala and Kyle Schaub both scored, as Lakeland doubled up the Hodags 6-3 in a game with important seeding and conference implications Thursday night at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Benson stole the puck from Abe Laggis and scored a back-breaking short-handed goal with 2:46 to play and then tacked on an empty netter roughly a minute later.
The T-Bird sophomore has scored seven goals against Rhinelander in two games this season - six of those have been third-period tallies.
"We let their two bigger players get loose on us," coach M.J Laggis said. "It was clearly our game plan to take that away, but we just faltered. They're just opportunistic and they're always looking to chip a puck, to kick a puck out, and when they do that they create odd-man rushes and tonight they were lethal with them. When they had them, they scored."
The Hodags outshot the T-Birds 43-26 but every time Rhinelander seemed to grab momentum, Lakeland made a play to wrestle it back.
Toijala scored 13 seconds after Cole Spaulding gave the Hodags a 2-1 lead on a power play midway through the second period, sparking a run of three unanswered goals for the T-Birds. Rhinelander got back to within a goal on a Bridger Flory goal with 5:13 remaining and had a chance on the power play a short time later, but Abe Laggis was unable to hold a puck in the offensive zone at the right point. The puck bounced off his stick and straight onto Benson's who went the rest of the way for a score with 2:48 to play.
"We couldn't get it to go our way at all there," coach Laggis said. "You score a goal to get momentum and then we gave the momentum right back. That seems to be pretty accurate of how we play Lakeland. We just don't put a game together and they always, when they play us, they just capitalize on their opportunities."
Conversely, the Hodags did not make plays when they had the chance.
Toijala scored 5:09 into the contest as he walked in along the far boards and snapped an unscreened wrist shot that beat goalie Seth Stafford gloveside. Schaub poked home a loose puck to tie the game and Lakeland took the lead for good with 2:26 remaining in the second as Bryce Gilbertson's one-timer from the slot beat Stafford through the five-hole.
"There's no doubt there's a few plays our goalie wants back," coach Laggis said. "There's a number of plays our forwards want back. I'm not going to point the finger ... On both ends of the rink, we weren't very good and we weren't very disciplined."
Abe Laggis, in particular, made one undisciplined play late in the second when he ran into Lakeland goalie Nathan Pitek well after Pitek had frozen the puck to get a stoppage. Laggis was whistled for roughing and Benson capitalized on the power play to give the T-Birds a 4-2 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the period.
"That was a mental mistake-type penalty, inexcusable," said coach Laggis, Abe's father. "The goaltender has it frozen and you run into him. We can't do that stuff. We've got to get better. We've got learn from it, got to grow from it."
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Hodags tied it up in the waning seconds of a power play to begin the second as Wojtusik got free in the low slot and scored off a centering pass from Brandon Kolasa. Rhinelander capitalized on the power play again at the 7:30 mark when Spaulding put home a rebound after Hunter Hicks misfired on an open net.
"Cole Spaulding plays hard up and down the ice and he's so positive in the locker room," Laggis noted. "Matthias Schneider is another kid that just laid it on the line tonight. He played really, really hard with a lot of energy. I was proud of that effort."
Lakeland broke a tie with Rhinelander for fourth in the GNC with the win, though the Hodags could still pass the T-Birds in the final conference standings should they come away with at least four points in their final two GNC contests. What's more, Thursday's game carried significant seeding implications.
Having lost to Lakeland twice this season, the Hodags will likely get no higher than a No. 7 seed in the 11-team sectional when the seeding meeting is conducted this Sunday.
"All we can do is move forward and try to play some good hockey here at the end," Laggis said.
The Hodags host Waupaca tonight at the RIA.
The Comets sit in third place in the GNC, though the Hodags won the first meeting between the teams 4-3 Dec. 3 in Waupaca.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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