January 14, 2021 at 7:55 a.m.
Hodags explode for seven goals in second period, rout Antigo 10-2
Hodags explode for seven goals in second period, rout Antigo 10-2
Joe Schneider had a six-point night, Harlan Wojtusik chipped in five points and the Hodags blasted Antigo 10-2 in a Great Northern Conference contest at the Langlade County Multi-Purpose Building.
After a tough week to start the new year that saw the Hodags lose hard-fought games to Mosinee, Lakeland and D.C. Everest, Rhinelander exploded for seven second-period goals Tuesday night and clinched a top-four seed for the upcoming GNC tournament.
"We start passing the puck and we start playing pretty good hockey. Passing was pretty good tonight and we obviously generated a lot of offense," Rhinelander coach M.J. Laggis said. "Finally some pucks started falling tonight. I hope we can keep that going."
Schneider, who missed Saturday's overtime loss at D.C. Everest as part of a game disqualification penalty assessed in last Thursday's loss to Lakeland, returned to the lineup in a big way for the Hodags. He got the scoring started with a breakaway goal 3:03 into the first period. He tacked on two more goals in the second, scored once in the third and added a couple of assists.
Wojtusik, whose turnover led to the game-tying goal late in regulation of the Everest game, was involved in the last five of the Hodags' second period goals - scoring twice and assisting on three others.
"Joe Schneider had a huge night, four goals, and Harlan Wojtusik was all over the ice," Laggis said. "He had two and a bunch of assists. Those two together were just mayhem out there. They played really well."
Jake Losch scored twice for the Hodags - goals at 4:15 and 7:07 into the second period that gave Rhinelander a 3-0 lead. The second of those goals triggered an avalanche of Rhinelander scoring. Joe Schneider had his second of the game at the 8:22 mark, Leo Losch scored at 9:44, followed by Wojtusik 46 seconds later. Joe Schneider capped off a run of five goals in 5 minutes, 39 seconds later in the period and Wojtusik tacked on one more for good measure on the power play with 38 seconds remaining in the period.
Garrett Husnick broke up the shutout, scoring for Antigo 17 seconds into the third, but Joe Schneider scored again at the 4:32 mark and Finn Tulowitzky notched his third goal of the season later in the period. Carter Michalik added a late goal for the Robins.
Rhinelander outshot Antigo 44-18 in the contest. Garrett Kulhanek made 12 saves in 13 chances to get the win. Tyler Kimmerling-Keating replaced Kulhanek early in the third and made four saves the rest of the way.
The win means Rhinelander sits at 4-2-0 in conference play with one more conference game remaining this coming Tuesday against Medford. Should the Hodags win, and Northland Pines lose one of its final two conference games, Rhinelander would leap up to the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament later this month. Mosinee and Lakeland are both 5-1-0 in the conference and are guaranteed to be seeded higher than Rhinelander based on head-to-head wins over the Hodags.
"Let's play our best hockey, get the highest seed we can, do the best we can in the tournament, let the chips fall where they may and try to make a real run at the end," Laggis said.
The Hodags were back in Antigo Thursday night for a non-conference contest that was originally scheduled to be played in Rhinelander but moved due to a lack of ice availability. Rhinelander travels to Merrill tonight to take on East/Merrill United in non-conference play.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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