January 11, 2021 at 8:45 a.m.
Hodag hockey's GNC hopes take a blow with 5-2 loss to Lakeland
RHS follows with OT loss at D.C. Everest
Hodag hockey's GNC hopes take a blow with 5-2 loss to Lakeland
Brayden Warchol scored a pair of special teams goals as Lakeland knocked of Rhinelander 5-2 at the RIA in a battle of one-loss teams within the Great Northern Conference.
Both teams were chasing Northland Pines and Mosinee in the conference standings, which began the night three points ahead. Lakeland maintained pace while Rhinelander dropped to fourth in the standings, six points off the lead. With head-to-head losses against Mosinee and Lakeland, the best Rhinelander would likely be able to do is get the No. 3 seed for the GNC tournament, should it win its final two conference games and Lakeland defeat Northland Pines, which the Hodags defeated at the start of the season.
"You have to take a lump like that tonight and realize they were better. They deserved it. To their credit, they played the game they had to play tonight and got it done," Rhinelander coach M.J. Laggis said. "Like I told the kids in the locker room after, we have to play forward now. Play for the next day, play for the next game. We still have two big conference games we can win with Medford and Antigo."
Twice Rhinelander was within two goals and threatening to draw closer before the T-Birds responded with back-breaking goals. Warchol scored, short-handed, at the 10:33 mark of the second to put Lakeland ahead 4-1. Rhinelander got back to within two off a Leo Losch goal early in the third that appeared to carom in off a Lakeland player. The Hodags had two power play chances after that but failed to convert and Matt Haggart tucked a shot underneath the crossbar from the blue line with 4:41 remaining to put Lakeland up 5-2 and seal the Hodags' fate.
"We have to find a way to start playing better team hockey and find a way to finish some games," Laggis said.
Thursday's game was marked by an incident early in the first period that cost both teams their leading scorer. Rhinelander's Joe Schneider and Lakeland's Max Toijala collided with knee-to-knee contact in the neutral zone, sending Toijala to the ice with an apparent lower leg injury. Toijala did not return to the game and Schneider was assessed a five-minute kneeing major and a game disqualification for the hit.
Laggis insisted there was no malicious intent on the play.
"I can't feel worse about how the game went," he said. "First off, you've got a very, very, very nice player in Max Toijala. I've been very complementary of him in person, and certainly after our playoff game up there last year I let him know what I thought of him as a player. Having my own son have had two pretty good (knee injuries), I'm very sensitive to that and the last thing I ever want to be involved with is a knee-on-knee hit that ends any kid's game, and hopefully it's only a game and no more. We feel terrible about that."
Lakeland eventually cashed in on the major penalty as Warchol got past two defenders along the far boards on a breakaway and beat Rhinelander goalie Garrett Kulhanek to give the T-Birds a 1-0 lead at the 8:27 mark of the first.
Rhinelander was called for another kneeing major on Jared Arno late in the first. Teag Wagner fired in a screened shot in the waning seconds of that power play, 3:04 into the second to make it 2-0. Victor Masayesva tacked on another goal 68 seconds later to give Lakeland a three-goal lead.
Both teams were called for eight penalties in the contest and Rhinelander give up three power play goals. The Hodags had not allowed a power play goal in their first 25 periods of hockey this season, but had a string of five straight periods with a power play goal allowed between the end of last Tuesday's loss against Mosinee and Thursday's loss to Lakeland.
Laggis vowed to review the penalties with the team in order to shore up its on-ice play.
"There's a difference between what you feel like happened as a player and what the referee saw. That's a big difference," he said. "It's easy for a kid to come to the bench and say, 'We'll, I didn't do that. That's not what I did,' and the referee sees it totally different because of where your stick is, where your hands are, where your knee is, where your skate is. That's something we have to learn from. It's not going to be tolerated moving forward. I can tell you right now I'm not playing that kind of hockey at all."
Harlan Wojtusik scored his 10th goal of the season on a power play for the Hodags midway through the second period. Both teams recorded 34 shots on goal. Max Masayesva stopped 32 pucks in victory while Kulhanek made 29 saves in defeat.
D.C. Everest 4, Rhinelander 3
A long week ended for the Hodags on a sour note, losing in overtime at D.C. Everest, 4-3 Saturday night.
Eddie Zynda took advantage of a defensive zone turnover by Wojtusik, scoring on a breakaway with 33 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game. Owen Bunnell scored on a rebound 5:01 into the extra session to give the Evergreens only their second win of the year.
"A three-game week, you certainly want to end it strong and not 0 for 3. You don't want to lose three in a row, that's an understatement," Laggis said. "We need something, our take off point, right now, where we don't look back. It would have been nice to finish that thing, but we couldn't do it."
Bunnell's game winner marked the only time D.C. Everest led in the contest. Twice the Hodags could not protect a one-goal lead in the third period. Moments after the Evergreens saw the potential game-tying goal disallowed due to a premature whistle, Parker Neitzke scored his second of the game to tie it with 6:06 remaining. The Hodags retook the lead on a rebound goal by freshman Joey Belanger with 2:57 to play.
Wojtusik and Jake Losch also scored in the game for Rhinelander. Caleb Shefveland took the loss for Rhinelander. Shots on goal were not provided prior to deadline.
The Hodags' concerted effort to curb penalties after taking eight each in the previous two contests seemed to work Saturday night. Rhinelander was called for only one penalty in the contest.
"It was a very penalty-free game, and that was one good thing to come out of tonight," Laggis noted.
Rhinelander (6-5-0, 3-2-0 Great Northern) travels to Antigo for a GNC contest tonight. The Hodags defeated the Red Robins 6-0 in non-conference play in Rhinelander Dec. 29.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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