The Minnesota Wilderness allowed goals within the first four minutes of each period Friday night, and fell to the Janesville Jets, 6-3.
The Wilderness surrendered two goals within the first 3:54 of period 1, one at the 1:20 mark of period 2 and another at 3:58 of the third period, helping the Jets to build and maintain momentum throughout the game.
Janesville added two lamp-lighters 31 seconds apart midway through the second that gave the Jets a commanding 5-1 lead.
Nick Sajevic led the way for the Jets with two goals, while Connor Brown, Jake Merens, James Taylor and Brady Engelkes each added single markers. Samuel Sisik also contributed with three assists and Ikki Kogawa finished with two helpers.
The loss spoiled a three-point night for Minnesota’s Ashton Dahms, who put up two goals and one assist.
Dahms’ first goal at 7:06 of the first period came on a two-on-one break with Peteris Purmalis, which began after he intercepted a Janesville pass in the Wilderness zone. That goal made the score 2-1 for Janesville.
The Lakeville forward notched his second tally on the power play when he whistled a slap shot past Janesville goaltender Matthew Alberti. That goal with 9:45 left in the 2nd was Dahms’ 16th of the season.
Dahm’s assist also came on the man-advantage. Dahms and Daniel Astopovich helped set up Oliver Stümpel for his eighth of 2023-24. Stümpel fired in a wrist shot that hit from the right circle that struck the net’s top shelf to give the final result of 6-3.
The Wilderness finished two-for-nine on the power play, while it’s PK was perfect, keeping Janesville scoreless on three chances.
Two Wilderness goaltenders split time in the game, with starter Adam Prokop playing 21:20 and allowing three goals on 12 shots. Reliever Nick Erickson took the loss after allowing three goals on 10 shots while guarding the net for 38:39.
Minnesota outshot Janesville 32-22, with Alberti getting the win making 29 saves.
The loss also snapped Minnesota’s 4-game win streak, and extends Janesville’s win streak to three games.
The two squads will close out their weekend series Saturday night, with game two set to begin at 7:05 p.m.