The Aberdeen Wings were finally back on home ice after a long road trip, but were unable to put up wins for the home fans against the St. Cloud Norsemen.
(Friday, March 27 – Odde Ice Center, Aberdeen, SD) The game would start out strong for the Wings as they would start out physical, and would be able to keep up defensively. They would take a penalty right away, and St. Cloud would be on the man-advantage, but would come up unsuccessful. At the 4:56 mark, Cooper Anderson would break the ice for both teams, and getting the Wings on the board first. This goal would be assisted by Jonathan Doucette and Brody Dustin. As time would wind down on the clock, however, the Wings would take a too many men on the ice penalty, setting the Norsemen up on another Power Play. With just 35 seconds left in the first period, Christian Nichols would get the equalizer. The teams would be tied at one, after one.
In the second, the Wings would be able to find a way to breakout offensively. They would be able to outshoot the Norsemen 12-6, and keep the puck in their offensive zone as well. At the 11:05 mark, Jibber Kuhl would get the lead back for the Wings with help from Finn Safir and Matthew Martin. St Cloud would have a chance to tie the game with a Power Play, but the Wings penalty kill would be able to hold them off. Towards the end of the period, the Wings would get their chance on the Power Play, and it would be Caden Lee who would extend the lead for the Wings with assists from Brody Dustin and Gavin Reed. The Wings would have a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
In the third, the Norsemen would be on the man-advantage again, and it would be Christian Nichols who would again score for them bringing them within one. Aberdeen would continue to pour on the shots, but none would find the back of the net. As the clock would continue to tick down, the Norsemen would pull their goaltender, putting out an extra attacker. With just 14 seconds left in the period, Sam Crane would fire the puck which would end up being the equalizer to send the game to overtime.
In the overtime period, the Wings would have the puck in their offensive zone for most of the period. However, partway through, they would take a penalty and get sent to the box. Just as the time would expire for the penalty, Christian Nichols would score his third of the night to win the game for the Norsemen in overtime.
Willum Braun was in net for the Wings, stopping 24 of 28, and ended the night with a .857 SV%.
(Saturday March 28 – Odde Ice Center, Aberdeen, SD) Saturday’s game, unfortunately would not have a better outcome than Friday. Aberdeen would come out trying to take redemption and would come close multiple times on scoring, but would come up unsuccessful on all those times throughout the entire first period. Just after the halfway mark of the first, the Norsemen would go on the man-advantage, and Christian Garrity would score on the Power Play. With no other scoring in the first, St. Cloud would have a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
In the second period, Aberdeen would continue to outshoot the Norsemen, and each team would get a chance on the Power Play, but neither team would be able to find the back of the net. With no change in score in the second, St. Cloud would still have a 1-0 lead heading into the final period of the weekend.
In the third period, the Wings would again continue to outshoot the Norsemen. And, they would still continue to come very close to scoring. Instead, at the 10:48 mark, it would be Mate Tardi who would score, making the score 2-0 in favor of St. Cloud. Shortly after, Matthew Martin would score for the Wings with help from Caden Lee and David Hruby giving life back to the Aberdeen bench, and the fans in the stands. Just as Aberdeen thought they could get the game back, Mate Tardi would score again, and Willum Braun would be pulled from net. Back-up goaltender, Paul Suda, would then take his place in net with 10 minutes left in the third. With just over 8 minutes left in the third, Aberdeen would find themselves in the penalty box, and Wyatt Farrell would score on the Power Play, and with just over two minutes left, Christian Garrity would score his second of the night for St. Cloud. Aberdeen would not be able to find the back of the net again, so St. Cloud would win on night two with a score of 5-1.
The Wings now look to reset and look ahead to their road trip to Minot, ND to take on the Minot Minotauros. Then, they will have a home-and-home series with the Watertown Shamrocks for the last weekend of Regular Season play. April 11th will be the last chance to see your Aberdeen Wings in action in the Regular Season! After the game, we will be auctioning off the away jersey’s with Val Jark of Jark Worlie Auction. You can get all your advanced tickets at all C-Express locations in Aberdeen, at tickets.aberdeenwings.com, or at the Lincoln Repair Aberdeen Box Office located inside the Odde!
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