January 9, 2023 at 8:07 a.m.
Strong third period propels Hodag hockey past Medford
Strong third period propels Hodag hockey past Medford
Rhinelander scored four goals in that span, and scored five unanswered in the third overall, as it skated into the Great Northern Conference lead with a 8-3 victory over the Medford Raiders.
Rhinelander (6-1-0, 3-0-0-0 Great Northern) is now the conference's lone unbeaten team, after Tomahawk upset Lakeland on Thursday night.
Joey Belanger scored four times, including three in the third period, to keep the Hodags from experiencing their own upset defeat.
Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said afterward he hoped to have a chance to extend his bench and get a few kids more ice time against the 3-8-0 Raiders. That plan went out the window, however, when the Hodags led only 3-2 after two periods, despite holding a 41-15 edge in shots at that point of the contest.
"By the time it's a 3-2 game going into the third, your mindset is completely different and you're trying to find a way to compete. You're trying to find a way to win the game," he said. "We played a really nice third period. We finished a lot of pucks."
Belanger scored three times on the power play in the contest, including the opening tally of the third. Leo Losch threw the puck in from the corner to Belanger who went top shelf and beat Medford goalie Talan Albers glove side just 28 seconds into the stanza.
AJ Turek made it a three-goal lead at the 2:11 mark as he maneuvered past Medford's Shane Kiselicka and scored on a breakaway chance. From there, Belanger scored again at the 5:08 mark and Layne Roeser sniped one from the high slot past Albers to give Rhinelander a 7-3 lead just 6:22 into the third.
Belanger rounded out Rhinelander's scoring on the night and Losch slid a puck through the crease on a 2-on-1 chance with 2:12 remaining. The two combined for six goals and four assists on the night.
"Leo Losch's hustle is outstanding, but I will tell you this, Joey Belanger finished a lot tonight and it wasn't just that he finished, it's that he worked really hard all over the ice," Laggis said. "I was really pleased with how he played. He had different line combinations, some guys not feeling good, this and that, but he just goes out there and is really strong on the puck and finishes pretty well."
Connor Gowey scored all three Medford goals and gave the Raiders a brief lead with a short-handed tally 2:17 into the contest. He dispossessed Rhinelander defenseman Cody Everson behind the Hodag net and stuffed one past goalie Johnny Turek following two shots from point-blank range.
Rhinelander answered with a Belanger goal on the power play just 31 seconds later and took the lead for good as Losch intercepted a clearance and walked in for a goal at the 4:27 mark of the period. Losch scored again off a faceoff at the 8:41 mark as Rhinelander led 3-1 after a period.
The Hodags outshot Medford 21-3 in the second period, but lost the stanza 1-0 after Gowey chased a puck along the boards into the Rhinelander zone and threw one from the outside of the right faceoff circle past Johnny Turek at the 12:58 mark.
"It's the end of the second period, you're outshooting them colossally, but it's a 3-2 game and now your mindset changes to how are we going to pull this out and win," Laggis said. "That's how Medford beat Waupaca. They kept it close and beat them in the third. Then we started unloading and scoring some goals, and the power plays helped."
Rhinelander finished the night with a 66-25 edge in total shots. Johnny Turek made 22 saves in the win for the Hodags in their final game before a daunting stretch that will see Rhinelander play four times this coming week and 11 times over the final 22 days of the month.
The long stretch ahead was part of the reason Laggis wanted to make sure to get more players ice time on Thursday - a plan that worked until it didn't.
"It's the only way people get better. You've got practice every day, and that's awesome, but you also want to try to get that game flow going and get them more touches and more time," he said. "There a few guys that only got one shift tonight that I would have liked to have gotten five or six, and I just feel bad about it."
The Hodags are on the road tonight to face D.C. Everest and will then take on Mosinee on the road this Thursday. Rhinelander will then take part in the East/Merrill tournament this Friday and Saturday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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