Boys Hockey: Red Wing grinds out win over Chaska

Nothing’s come easy lately for the Red Wing boys hockey team and

Tuesday the Wingers suddenly found themselves trying to grind out a win

against Chaska in Chaska.

Red Wing had beaten the Hawks 7-1 in the season’s first meeting

but needed to grind out a 5-4 victory Tuesday to snap a two-game losing

streak.

“We're coming off some tough losses,” Wingers head coach Mike

Belisle said. “I think we just left off the gas a little bit and got on

our heels and started to force some things.”

Red Wing (9-8-1, 6-2 Missota) got a goal from senior Mike Stegora

5 minutes, 1 second into the third period to go up 5-4 and hold off a

feisty Chaska (3-17, 0-9 Missota) that had lost four consecutive games.

Defenseman Dayton Johnson scored two goals for the Wingers while

Taylor Hanson and Marcus Dodge added goals to help Red Wing rally from a

2-1 deficit in the first period.

The Wingers had three different leads in the game, but the Hawks

kept finding ways to tie the game and often quickly despite being outshot

47-34.

Johnson scored 26 seconds into the game on an assist from Stegora, but Chaska came back at 4:56 to tie the game on a goal from Brooks Wineberg

and took the lead 21 seconds later when Brady Roers scored.

Hanson’s goal at 7:07 in the second tied it at 2-2 and Johnson

gave Red Wing a 3-2 lead at 9:35. A little more than two minutes later

Roers tied it at 3-3.

The Wingers took a 4-3 lead at 2:19 of the third period when

Marcus Dodge scored a power-play goal on an assist from Marcus Dodge and

Ryan Rehder, but Jake Halsne tied it 30 seconds later.

“The early goals were odd-man rushes,” Belisle said. “We

gave up a lot of odd-man rushes which has been uncharacteristic.”

Red Wing played without senior defenseman Jack Strusz, who is

nursing a tailbone injury, and in his absence the Wingers struggled with

closing down shooting lanes and gave up a pair of goals that went untouched from the point.

“They came from an area of the ice where it shouldn't get

through two or three guys and they were clean,” Belisle said.

Strusz is expected back this weekend, Belisle said, and it comes

at a time where Red Wing needs to be at full strength. The Wingers travel

north Friday to face Crookston and faces fourth-ranked Thief River Falls

Saturday in Thief River Falls.

Tags: boys hockey, red wing, sports, prep