Bo Cosman posted his first two goals in a Minnesota Wilderness uniform Saturday night, leading the squad to a 4-1 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears.
The forward from Milton, GA, lit the lamp in the first and third periods, while Isak Posch turned aside of 31 of 32 shots to lead Minnesota to its third straight victory.
Cosman opened the scoring 4:41 into the first period with an assist from Kevin Marx Norén. Marx Norén showed off slick two-way skills when he first helped break up a Kenai scoring chance directly in front of the Wilderness net. The forward from Knivsta, Sweden, then retrieved the puck and carried it himself all the way into the Kenai zone. Marx Norén then stopped after crossing the blue line and from along the left wall, delivered a pinpoint centering pass to Cosman as he skated in toward the Brown Bear net. Cosman then sent the puck over goaltender Nils Wallstrom’s right leg and into the net to give the Wilderness a 1-0 lead.
Kenai managed to counter before the end of the period. While on a power play, Kotaro Tsutsumi scored the Brown Bears lone goal on a shot from the slot with 1:42 remaining in the opening frame to even the score at 1-1.
The Wilderness broke the tie when Sawyer Scholl scored on his own rebound with 6:01 left in the 2nd. Gunnar Thoreson and Evan Pahos assisted on Scholl’s 6th of the season, and fourth point of the weekend.
Minnesota added an insurance tally in the middle of the final frame. Cosman’s second goal of the game, and ninth of the campaign, came on a redirect of a shot from Gustavs Ozolins. Max Wattvil also earned an assist to make it 3-1 with 8:04 left.
An empty-net goal clinched it for the Wilderness before the final buzzer. With 7 seconds on the clock, Marx Norén fired the puck into the open cage for his 23rd of the season, with assists from Thoreson and Ozolins.
Kenai (25-22-3) outshot the Wilderness 32-29. Posch was sharp for a third straight game, and came up huge early in the third when he held off Hayden Walters on 2-on-1 situation that would have tied the contest at 2. With the win, he improved his season mark to 19-10-6.
Minnesota was blanked on the power play on two chances, while its penalty kill gave up one goal on three Brown Bear opportunities.
The victory also moved the Wilderness (26-15-7) back into sole possession of 2nd place in the Midwest Division. Minnesota entered the game tied for 2nd with Fairbanks, but the Ice Dogs dropped to third after falling to Anchorage for the second straight night.
A trip to Anchorage is next on the schedule for Minnesota. The Wilderness and Wolverines will tangle for two games March 10-11.