NOVEMBER 14, 2016 - The Steele County Blades hosted the Chicago Cougars for two games at home this past weekend.
On Friday night, the Blades jump out to a quick lead just 30 seconds into the game. Erik Colstrup launched a pass that spanned the neutral zone to Kyle Wadden, who scored on a breakaway. The remaining 19 minutes and 30 seconds were scoreless. Blades’ goaltender Mike Severson stopped all 13 of the Cougars shots.
The Blades continued the trend of starting the period with some momentum when Chase Lewis buried a rebound opportunity just one minute and 42 seconds into the period, Soren Colstrup and Blades newcomer Justin Movalli were responsible for the assists. Chicago cut the deficit in half when Brennen Peters spoiled 28 minutes of perfect hockey for Mike Severson. Sustaining momentum was a tall order for either team in the second period. Jake Freise gave the Blades a 3-1 lead scoring just 4 minutes after the Peters tally. Freise’s goal was a result of some pretty passes and an effective cycle. First, Oskari Valli fed the puck to Kyle Wadden before Wadden found Freise open in front of the net. Before the Blades were done congratulating Freise on the bench, the Cougars brought themselves within one goal just 28 seconds later. The Blades would head into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.
The Blades were given a power play opportunity just 23 seconds into the third period when Cougars defensemen Chris Marston was sent to the penalty box for hooking. Oskari Valli was the beneficiary of a nice passing play from Koy Payne. Payne found Valli on the backdoor before Valli’s one-timer beat the Cougars' Martinovich between the legs. Justin Movalli collected another secondary assist on the play. The swing of momentum shifted back in favor of the Cougars shortly there after when Andrew Van Dyke brought the Cougars within a goal. Each team was given chances to either tie the game but both goalies remained strong for the remainder of the game as the Blades won 4-3. Mike Severson stopped 13 more shots in the third, including killing off a five on three penalty. In total, Severson stopped 34 shots on the night picking up his third win of the season in the process.
Game two of the series was yet another back and forth battle where momentum was hard to come by. The first period only saw a total of 13 shots, seven for the Cougars and six for the Blades respectively. The only tally in the first frame was from Cougar defensemen Anthony Beltrame as he unleashed a slap shot on the power play to beat Blades goaltender Tim Grounds to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
The Second period was an action packed frame, filled with five goals and multiple power play opportunities for both teams. Blades defensemen Chase Wedding opened the scoring for the period with a blast from the point off a pass from Wadden. Wedding’s goal knotted the game with a score of 1-1. Just 24 seconds later, Cougars forward Michael Lenzi regained the one goal lead for his team and shifted momentum back in the favor of Chicago. The Blades Wedding was not done making an impact offensively. Wedding jumped up in the neutral zone, passed the puck to Chase Lewis and continued his route to the net before Lewis feathered a pass back to Wedding, who slid a backhand chance in the back of the net. The 2-2 tie would only last for five minutes. The Cougars would add two more even strength goals to give them a 4-2 lead heading into the 3rd period..
The Blades would not go down without a fight. Chase Wedding would continue his offensive prowl, picking up his third goal of the evening to bring the Blades within one goal. This was Wedding's his first junior hockey hat trick. Wadden also picked up his second assist on the power play goal. Another Blades player riding a hot streak was Freise, who scored his third goal in three games to tie the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, the Cougars responded with two more goals as the Blades come back well short and lost the game 6-4.
Newly acquired defenseman Justin Movalli gave an honest evaluation about this weekend's games. “On Friday, we did a good job of getting pucks on net and the forward's converted on the chances. It was a full team effort to come out with the win. Saturday, we had a couple of unlucky bounces that ended up in the back of our net. We fell a little short in the third period but will be ready to rebound this Friday against the Cougars.”
Meanwhile, the coaching staff was happy with playing back at Four Seasons Centre. “It felt good to get back on our home ice after a couple of weeks on the road," said Head Coach Nick Adamek. "We are making the proper strides as an organization that is trying to do the right thing. Our boys played hard both nights and we able to walk away with a win Friday night against a very good Chicago Cougars club. Saturday was an effort that came on too little too late. We will learn from losses like that and, hopefully, get better as a team.
The Blades will get a chance at redemption when the take on the Chicago Cougars this Friday night.
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