February 10, 2022 at 10:08 a.m.
Mosinee blasts RHS 8-2 in GNC tourney
Mosinee blasts RHS 8-2 in GNC tourney
If that happens, the Hodags will need to play much better than they did Tuesday night to keep their season alive.
Mosinee exploded for five unanswered goals in the second period and routed Rhinelander 8-2 in the Great Northern Conference tournament semifinals at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Seeding for the upcoming WIAA tournament was conducted Sunday and mirrored that of the Great Northern Conference tournament. Rhinelander earned the No. 2 seed and Mosinee the No. 3, based on the Hodags' 6-3 head-to-head win over the Indians on Jan. 25.
Assuming both get by their regional final games next Thursday, they will meet again Feb. 22 in Rhinelander with a trip to the sectional finals on the line.
Should there be a third round, Rhinelander coach M.J. Laggis said his team will need to compete harder than it did on Tuesday.
"That was absolute Mosinee domination in every facet of the game," Laggis said afterward. "They won puck races. We stepped in the offensive zone when we were in there to areas that you're going to get beat big time by speed. We knew it, we talked about it but we still made the same mistakes. That's really concerning.
"Most concerning, without a doubt, was our compete level was not there at all."
Daniel Gildain scored three times for Mosinee while Carter Daul, who was unable to play in the first meeting against Rhinelander, scored twice. Ondrej Napravnik had a goal and four assists as Mosinee outshot Rhinelander 40-27 in the contest.
The teams played a scoreless first period, but Mosinee had the better of the shot count (14-9) and the overall play. The floodgates finally opened in the second period.
Gildain knocked home a rebound 2:44 into the period on the power play after Rhinelander goalie Garrett Kulhanek kick-saved a Daul blast from the point. Gildain scored again at the 6-minute mark on a screened shot from the left faceoff circle.
Napravnik scored the first of two Mosinee short-handed goals at the 7:37 mark of the second before Daul scored twice to end the period, the second came as he intercepted a Joey Belanger pass at the Mosinee blue line and skated the rest of the way for a breakaway goal.
"We know they're a good team, we know they move puck well," coach Laggis said. "When we played in Mosinee Carter Daul wasn't playing and, frankly, Carter Daul's a very good hockey player. We knew some of the things they were going to throw at us and we were really unable to take it away. We were unable to make the adjustments that we needed to make."
Rhinelander showed some life early in the third period. Leo Losch scored on the power play 1:09 into the period and the Hodags had another chance with the man advantage after a Caden Schmirler hooking penalty. But Gildain finished his hat trick short-handed at the 5:10 mark.
Though Belanger capitalized on a 5-on-3 chance a short time later, power play goals by Schmirler and Gavin Obremski over the final seven minutes of the game handed Rhinelander its most lopsided home defeat since a 12-2 loss to Northland Pines Dec. 5, 2019.
"I don't remember taking a beating like that in a number of years here. We just haven't had those kinds of teams. We compete," coach Laggis said. "Mosinee's a very skilled team. There's no doubt about it, but they're not (that much) better than us and we certainly have a much better compete level than what we showed tonight."
Also of concern, a Rhinelander penalty kill unit that had thwarted off 84% of opposing teams' power play chances this season was only 2 for 5 on the kill Tuesday against Mosinee. Coach Laggis said both the penalty kill, and the reasons for going on the kill were concerning.
"Very foolish penalties, very undisciplined, some slashing and high hands-type penalties," he said. "We didn't handle their power play at all. There were some adjustments we were trying to make on the bench, but we weren't able to. We really have to go to the drawing board and just be able to break down their power play, which we can do, (and see) this is what they're generating and this is what we're not taking away. We're playing way too passive at moments and not going after pucks we can get, and we're collapsing on our goalies and not giving our goalies a chance."
Kulhanek made 24 saves over two periods for Rhinelander before giving way to fellow senior Caleb Shefveland, who made eight stops in 11 chances in the third period.
Rhinelander (16-6-0) was officially eliminated from conference title contention with the loss. Lakeland clinched the overall conference title based on a points structure that equally weighs the regular season and conference tournament. Lakeland will face Mosinee for the conference tournament title on Saturday while Rhinelander plays Waupaca in the third-place game.
Coach Laggis said he wants to use Saturday's game as a bounce back in preparation for the WIAA tournament opener against Tomahawk Feb. 17. If the Hodags win that game, round three against Mosinee is a likelihood.
"I can't see past that first round. I'm not looking by anyone, but I sure can tell you I would just love to win that first round and try to compete against these guys next time around, that's for sure," he said. "I know we're very capable."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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