One goal early in the first period plus another late in the 2nd were enough for the Chippewa Steel Friday night in a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wilderness.
The Wilderness fell behind just 46 seconds into the contest when Joey Sylvester’s shot from the high slot found the back of the net. The Steel followed that with a goal with 25 seconds left in the middle frame from Scott Miner.
The Wilderness cut Chippewa’s lead to one 5:51 into the third period. Logan Nagle wired a shot that snuck in between goaltender Ajay White and the left post for Nagle’s sixth goal of the season. Beau Janzig and Aiden Shirey helped set up the tally, which was part of a final frame where Minnesota outshot Chippewa, 9-3.
Minnesota had some golden opportunities to tie in the latter stages of the tilt, only to see them stymied by White or a Chippewa defense that had a knack for breaking up attempts. On one rush with about 3:35 left in the third, White managed three saves within a matter of a few seconds from attempts by Shirey, Oliver Stümpel and Daniel Astapovich.
Chippewa then cracked down defensively when the Wilderness pulled netminder Nick Erickson for an extra attacker. Erickson sat on the bench for over two minutes, yet Minnesota failed to register a shot on goal as it worked to get an equalizer.
For the game, the Wilderness outshot Chippewa, 23-22.
On special teams, Minnesota was held to one power play that lasted only 25 seconds. The Wilderness went 0-for-1, while keeping Chippewa scoreless on its five man-advantage chances.
The loss extends the Wilderness winless streak to four games. It will look to snap that skid Saturday night when it closes out the weekend series, along with the season series vs. Chippewa. That contest kicks off at 7:15 p.m. at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet.