January 30, 2023 at 8:03 a.m.
Hodag hockey fades in GNC showdown with Lakeland
RHS bounces back with Oshkosh win
Hodag hockey fades in GNC showdown with Lakeland
Tied 3-3 early in the third, the Hodags gave up three unanswered goals and fell to Lakeland 6-3 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Jack Rubo scored twice for Lakeland, including a go-ahead goal 3:22 into the third that benefitted from a couple of fortuitous bounces.
Lakeland clinched the No. 1 seed for the GNC tournament, which gets underway tonight. Rhinelander was set to be either the third or fourth seed in the tournament, pending the outcome of a make-up game at Northland Pines Monday night that concluded after press time for today's edition.
The Hodags were able to bounce back on Saturday in non-conference play, using a four-goal second period to defeat Oshkosh 6-1 at the RIA.
"You've got to have your chin up and come back the next day," coach M.J. Laggis said after Thursday's loss. "It's hard. It's a rivalry game. You're playing for some home ice in the GNC and the playoffs. To be 3-3 and let them run wild for three in your barn, that's tough to take."
Neither team led by more than a goal for the majority of the contest. After Lakeland's Al Meyer poked home a rebound goal on the power play with 23 seconds left in the second period to put the T-Birds ahead 3-2, the Hodags answered back with a power play goal of their own by Sam Schneider 2:57 into the third to tie the game.
From there, it appeared that Lakeland got the luckiest break of the night as a puck down near the end line glanced off a referee's skate allowing the T-Birds to control it and get it to Rubo on the end line on the opposite end of the goal. Rubo then threw the puck in front and it deflected off Rhinelander defenseman Cody Everson and in to the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.
"We've had a lot of situations with Lakeland the last couple of years where it's a tight game and you're in that game and have an opportunity but it's a game of momentum, and things create momentum," Laggis said. "A penalty, whether it's a good penalty or not a good penalty called and all of a sudden it's a power play goal. Or, just having a lot of pressure on us and freakish rebounds that rattle around that we don't get control of.
"It's momentum swings. When that game's 3-2 and you make it 3-3 and you're in your barn, that's a game you've got to find a way (to win)."
The Hodags successfully killed off a 5-on-3 power play later in the third, but gave up an insurance goal with 5:38 remaining as Kort Meyer tipped in a Thomas McCumber shot from the left point. Gray Wagner tacked on one more 32 seconds later as he came free in the slot off a feed by CJ Smith.
Rebounds haunted Rhinelander much of the night. Brayden Warchol drew first blood for Lakeland 9:52 into the contest on the rebound off a Wagner shot. Leo Losch tied it for Rhinelander at the 10:55 mark and Gavin Denis cashed on off a Lakeland turnover to put Rhinelander ahead 3:10 into the second, but Rubo found a rebound off a Matt Haggart shot from the point to tie it 6:32 into the period and then Al Meyer scored on the rebound to put Lakeland ahead in the waning moments of the second.
"In front of their net, we just absolutely do not score rebounds goals and we badly need to become a rebound goal-scoring team. We're going to just keep that focus and that emphasis on it," Laggis said. "On the other end, we're just not taking care of them at all. There's a number of things going into that and we've just got to try to fix it and move forward."
Lakeland controlled the third period, outshooting Rhinelander 13-6 in the stanza. The Hodags won the shot count 30-29 overall. Tyler Kimmerling stopped 23 pucks in defeat for Rhinelander while Max Masayesva turned aside 27 shots for Lakeland.
Hodags 6, Oshkosh 1
After a slow start, at least from a scoring standpoint, the Hodags finally kicked things in gear late in the second period on Saturday. Rhinelander scored four times in the final 10 minutes of the frame as it skated by Oshkosh 6-1.
The Hodags outshot the Ice Hawks 53-23 in the contest and, despite all the pressure, had only one goal to show for their efforts until the floodgates finally opened late in the second.
"I thought we played a better second period," Laggis said. "That wasn't our sharpest hockey game overall, but a lot of offense generated, a lot of shots on goal and then the second period we started finishing."
Losch scored twice for the Hodags with goals that bookended Rhinelander's second-period flurry. He scored off a feed from Denis to put Rhinelander up 2-0 at the 7:33 mark of the period and then redirected a rebound off a Dalton Fritz shot to make it 5-0 at the 14:46 mark.
In between, AJ Turek and Joey Belanger scored. Turek tipped in a shot from the point by Schneider at the 9:30 mark while Belanger scored on a wraparound attempt at the 10:25 mark.
Finn Tulowitzky had Rhinelander's lone goal of the first period. He tipped in a Belanger shot from the slot 5:29 into the period. For the longest time, that was the only puck the Hodags got past Oshkosh goalie Gage Bauer, who made 47 saves in defeat.
"I was pretty frustrated with us not finishing," Laggis said. "The thing about that first period was there were a ton of rebounds there and we weren't owing the rebound and burying them at all. (Bauer) made a lot of really nice first save too. We just had a lot of rebound chances that we didn't capitalize on. When you leave that period with however many shots we had behind him and only one goal, we've got to be a little better than that."
Johnny Turek made 22 saves in the victory. The Hodags' bid at their first shutout win of the season went away 5:22 into the third when Isaiah Koeppen got behind the defense and scored on a breakaway in transition. Oshkosh had a few other chances on odd-man rushes in the game that Turek turned aside.
"I thought Johnny played good tonight," Laggis said. "We really have made a conscious effort on working on rebounds in practice. The last practice we spent a lot of time on it and we're going to continue with the practices we have left. It's a focus, covering that rebound, getting it under control and Johnny did a really nice job. He also did a nice job on some first look shots tonight and a few of them were absolutely point-blank."
Defenseman Layne Roeser scored a short-handed goal for the Hodags late in the third period to round out the scoring.
GNC tourney begins
Rhinelander opens the Great Northern Conference tournament at home tonight, facing either Northland Pines or Antigo, pending the outcome of last night's game at Pines. Barring an overtime or shootout victory for Rhinelander, the Eagles would come to the RIA tonight for a rematch.
Though Pines entered the week 5-13-1 on the season, they played two competitive games with Mosinee last week, losing 6-3 and 6-4. They also fell to Hayward in overtime Friday night in the first game of the Pines Classic.
"They're playing fast hockey and they've got good goaltending. It will be a very difficult game," Laggis said of facing the Eagles.
After tonight, the Hodags have a couple of non-conference games prior to the second round of the conference tournament Feb. 7. Rhinelander hosts Pacelli this evening and will travel to Ashland Saturday night.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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