The Minnesota Wilderness picked up where they left off offensively in 2024-25, scoring 10 goals in its opening weekend series sweep of the Springfield Jr. Blues.
Minnesota kicked off the 2025-26 campaign Friday night with a 4-2 victory and then completed the sweep with a 6-2 win Saturday.
Over the two games, the Wilderness had goals from seven different players while 15 posted at least one point. The Wilderness are seeking to build on their effort from last season where it registered 210 goals – the 2nd highest season total in franchise history.
Noah Dziver led the way with four assists while Zach Homer, Caleb Kim and Lucas Ryen each lit the lamp twice.
Homer’s goals ended up being the game-winner each night.
Wilderness goaltender Valdemar Andersen was called upon to start both nights and earned back-to-back victories to start the season with a 2-0 record.
Minnesota is back at home next weekend. The Anchorage Wolverines will be in town for a 2-game series Sept. 19-20.
Friday: Wilderness 4, Springfield 2
After a scoreless first period where play was primarily controlled by Springfield, the first goal of the game finally came with 7:23 left in the 2nd period. The Jr. Blues broke the deadlock with a power play goal from Niko Laus.
The Wilderness then woke up and followed with two tallies over the next 5:32. The first came from Kim with his first of the season on a power play with 4:08 left in the middle frame, and then Talan Blanck gave the Wilderness their first lead of the season with a short-handed goal with 1:51 left.
Blanck’s goal, his first as a Wilderness player, came in thrilling fashion. His tally resulted from a 2-on-1 break where he completed the scoring after receiving a pass from Dziver.
Springfield, however, would not let the Wilderness stay in the lead before the period ended. Shortly after the Jr. Blues pounced on a Minnesota turnover in the offensive zone, Ben Cameron tied the game with 22 seconds remaining.
The Wilderness quickly seized back momentum early in the third period. Just 22 seconds into the frame, Homer deposited. Nate Murray later added an insurance tally on the power play with 9:51 left with his premier goal of the campaign.
Murray and Blanck each added assists to give them two points in the contest. Single helpers went to Avery Anderson, Olle Karlsson, Ryan DeAngelis and River Freeman.
On the man-advantage, Minnesota went 2-for-4, while giving up one to Springfield, who also had four opportunities.
The Jr. Blues outshot the Wilderness 26-25. Andersen earned his first win of the season with a 24-save performance. For Springfield, Branson Appelman suffered the loss with 21 saves.
Saturday: Wilderness 6, Springfield 2
Just like he did on Friday, Kim was the first for the Wilderness to find the back of the net Saturday. The difference in game 2 was his goal gave Minnesota the lead.
The veteran forward from Leonia, NJ, made the score 1-0 with assists from Karlsson and DeAngelis. With two goals in 2025-26, Kim has already equaled the totals from his rookie campaign last season.
Minnesota then followed with three tallies in the 2nd period. Ryen made it 2-0 with his first in a Wilderness uniform with 12:45 left, Homer added a 2-man advantage power play goal with 2:23 left and Peyton Chase gave the Wilderness a 4-0 lead with this first Jr. hockey goal with 34 seconds left.
The Wilderness and Jr. Blues closed out the contest with both squads potting a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes. Anderson notched his first of the season at the 4:08 mark to give the Wilderness 5-0 lead. Springfield then got on the board thanks to a Zach Howard power play marker with 12:56 left. Ryen added his second of the game with 9:01 left, and Springfield then closed out the scoring with a lamplighter from Owen Lowe with 4:33 remaining.
Dziver led the effort in helpers Saturday with three, while DeAngelis was not far behind with two. Single assists went to Homer, Freeman, Karlsson, Isaac Suh, Ivan Milovidov, Bryce Dahl, and Logan Nagle.
Both teams again managed at least one goal on the man-advantage. The Wilderness finished 2-for-3, while Springfield struck once on three chances.
While Minnesota (2-0-0) had the upper hand on the scoreboard, for the second straight night, it could not outshoot the Jr. Blues. Springfield (0-2-0) finished Saturday with a 24-23 shot advantage.
In the goaltender battle, Andersen’s victory came with 22 saves while the Jr. Blues’ Cody Niesen took the loss with 17 saves.