Zach Homer added to a season full of highlight reel moments with his most productive weekend of his junior career to lead the Minnesota Wilderness to a road sweep of the Janesville Jets.
Homer notched two goals and six assists in 5-3 and 6-2 wins over the Jets Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
His linemates Talan Blanck and Noah Dziver were also highly efficient as both combined for seven points. Blanck recorded three goals and four assists while Dziver lit the lamp four times and added three helpers.
Plus, Dziver and Homer added to their re-writing of the Wilderness record books.
Dziver put his name atop the charts for single-season assists, breaking the old record of 44, and tied the single-season mark for short-handed goals with five. Homer’s two goals allowed him to tie the records for combined (regular season and playoffs) goals for both single-season and career. His 38 this season and 60 for his Wilderness career drew him even with franchise records.
In addition, it was a historic weekend for Ryan Gerlich who was the winning goaltender in both contests. Those victories give Gerlich 13 wins on the road, which sets a new franchise single season mark.
On top of that, the team now has 88 points on the campaign, establishing another new franchise record, breaking the old season high of 84.
Minnesota, who clinched the Midwest Division’s regular season crown in mid-March, will have its final pre-Robertson Cup playoff tune-up next weekend. The Wilderness will again travel to Janesville, WI, to meet the Janesville Jets April 10-11 with each game set to begin at 7:05 p.m.
Friday: Wilderness 5, Janesville 3
After Joe Hyten put the Jets up 1-0 in the first period, the Wilderness took command in the 2nd period with three unanswered goals.
Talan Blanck evened the score with a goal 5:55 into the middle frame, with assists going to Noah Dziver and Zach Homer.
Those would be the first points with a trio that combined for 11 points in the game. Dziver (2 goals, 2 assists) and Homer (1 goal, 3 assists) each finished with four points while Blanck (1 goal, 2 assists) had three.
Homer followed with a power play marker 3:01 later with Blanck and Dziver assisting, and then Dziver lit the lamp to make it 3-1 with 1:14 left in the frame with assists going to Matt Hauser and Olle Karlsson.
Both squads added two goals in the third period to complete the scoring.
Grant Dillard drew Janesville back within one at the 40-second mark with a short-handed goal.
Dziver countered with his 28th of the season just under four minutes later with Homer and Blanck again earning apples.
Hyten posted his second of the game for the Jets to make it 4-3 before Robinson Djian restored the two-goal lead with 4:10 left in regulation. Djian converted on a 2-on-1 with Homer to notch his 14th of the campaign, with an additional assist going to Jack Martens.
Janesville outshot Minnesota, 30-27. Ryan Gerlich earned the win in net making 27 saves on 30 shots. Kaenen Smith took the loss for the Jets with a 22-save performance.
Both teams managed one goal on the power play. The Wilderness went 1-for-3 while Janesville finished 1-for-4.
Saturday: Wilderness 6, Janesville 2
The Wilderness dominated another second period Saturday night to clinch a sweep of the weekend set.
Both teams traded first period goals. Zach Homer kicked off the scoring 8:24 after the opening face-off. Talan Blanck and Olle Karlsson drew helpers on Homer’s 38th of the season.
Janesville’s Mason Minsky lit the lamp less than five minutes later to tie the score 1-1.
Three goals over the first 9:44 of the middle frame allowed Minnesota to take control of the game.
Twenty-four seconds into the stanza, Blanck put the Wilderness back in front with Homer and Noah Dziver assisting.
Ryan DeAngelis then followed with a tally that resulted in his first junior hockey game-winner. The Scottsdate, AZ, native DeAngelis got help from a rookie and a childhood friend to set up the play. From the bottom of the right circle, Adel Akhmadeev, playing in his fifth game at the junior level, sent the puck to Max Edwards at the top of the circle. Edwards, another Scottsdale native who grew up with DeAngelis, found DeAngelis in the slot with a back-hand pass who threw the puck into the net for his third goal of the season 3:33 into the second period.
Blanck then made it 4-1 with 9:40 left in the second when he converted on a 2-on-1 set up by Homer. That marker was the second of the game and 28 th of the campaign for Blanck.
Janesville would get one more back just moments later when Nathan Tobey scored with 8:47 left in the second frame.
Two goals from Dziver in the third period completed the scoring.
Defenseman Matt Hauser made two nifty moves to help set up Dziver for his first red-lighter. Working on the power play at the middle of the blue line in the offensive zone, Hauser first denied a Janesville clearing attempt by using his stick to bat the puck in mid-air back into the Jets zone. Moments later, Hauser, this time positioned in the slot received a centering pass from Homer and, instead of shooting the puck, dealt it to Dziver at the bottom of the left circle who quickly swatted it into the back of the net to make the score 5-2 just 53 seconds into the final period.
Dziver then completed the scoring with his record-tying fifth SHG of the year at the 8:25 mark. Blanck earned an assist on the goal thanks to his one-handed swat of the puck that sprung Dziver loose for a breakaway that he ended up converting for his 30th tally of the season.
In his second straight start, Gerlich made 31 saves to give him back-to-back victories. Janesville outshot Minnesota, 33-27. Roman Batih suffered the loss for the Jets making 21 saves.
The Wilderness (42-11-4) were the only team in the game to post a power play goal, as they went one-for-six on the man-advantage. Minnesota’s penalty-killers held off Janesville (25-30-1) on four chances.