Who: Minnesota Wilderness at Janesville Jets
When: Nov. 12-13, 7:00 p.m. both nights
Where: Janesville Arena, Janesville, WI
The Wilderness will travel to Janesville for the first time during the 2021-22 season. Both teams will be coming in on winning streaks. The Wilderness have won 3 straight, while the Jets have won their last 2.
Records: Minnesota 11-5-1; Janesville 5-11-1
NAHL Midwest Division standings:
| Team | Points | Games played | |
| 1 | Fairbanks | 25 | 19 |
| 1 | Springfield | 25 | 19 |
| 3 | MN Wilderness | 23 | 17 |
| 4 | Anchorage | 21 | 16 |
| 5 | MN Magicians | 20 | 17 |
| 5 | Chippewa | 20 | 20 |
| 7 | Janesville | 11 | 17 |
| 8 | Kenai River | 6 | 17 |
Season series: This will be the 5th and 6th meetings of the season between the Wilderness and Jets. Minnesota won the first 4 (all played in Cloquet).
- 10/1: Janesville 5, Wilderness 6
- 10/2: Janesville 5, Wilderness 6
- 10/22: Janesville 2, Wilderness 5
- 10/23: Janesville 3, Wilderness 6
Last weekend: Minnesota swept the Minnesota Magicians Nov. 5-6 in a 2-game home-and-home series, winning Friday night in Cloquet, 2-1, and Saturday night in Richfield, 6-5 (OT).
Hey first place, how YOU doin’? The Wilderness enter the weekend flirting with the top spot in the division, sitting just 2 points back of Springfield and Fairbanks, who are currently tied for the division lead. Meanwhile, Springfield and Fairbanks play each other this weekend in Alaska.
Rockin’ Rookie Rexine: Wilderness forward Niko Rexine (rex-EEN) continues his impressive early season pace. The Syracuse, NY, native notched his first 3-point game of his young Jr. A career last weekend, scoring 2 goals and adding 1 assist. He currently leads all Wilderness rookies with 6 goals and 15 points over 12 games. His 1.25 points per game average is 4th highest among all league first-year players.
Defensemen being offensive: Sitting atop the list of the NAHL’s goal-scoring defensemen, you will find Cole Crusberg-Roseen (KRUS-berg-roh-ZEEN). CCR’s two goals over last weekend give him 8 on the season, and they move him into a tie for the league lead.
The Wilderness have 4 blueliners among the top 7 scoring defensemen in the league. Bobby Metz and Max Ruoho (ROW-ho) both sit in a tie for 2nd in points with 14, Aaron Pionk is now tied for 5th with 13, while 12 points for Crusberg-Roseen put him in a tie for 7th.
60 minutes is not enough: Saturday’s overtime victory marked the 3rd win of the season where the Wilderness had to play beyond regulation. All 3 Wilderness road victories have come in either overtime or a shootout.
About the opponent: Janesville will get reacquainted with its home arena this weekend. The Jets have not played a game at Janesville Arena since Sept. 25. In the 11 games they played on the road since, they went 3-8; although they did finish on a positive note. The Jets won the last 2 in a 3-game series in Fairbanks, 4-2 and 5-3. Jets leading scorer Cy LeClerc registered 5 points (2 goals and 3 assists) in the victories, en route to earning Midwest Division Star of the Week honors.