Two early third period goals were not enough Sunday as the Minnesota Wilderness dropped its final game of 2023 to the Janesville Jets, 5-2.
Trailing 3-0 entering the final frame, the Wilderness came to life and made it a one-goal game thanks to tallies by Slava Tugolukov and Adam Johnson within the first 5:04 of the period. However, that was as close as the Wilderness would get as the Jets added two goals over the game’s final 2:06 to seal the victory.
Max Wagener posted a hat trick for Janesville, with two of his three markers being the pair scored in the third period. Christian Venticinque and James Taylor also lit the lamp for Janesville.
Venticinque and Taylor opened the scoring with goals just 1:28 apart in the first period to give the Jets a 2-0 lead. Wagener then followed with his first of the game with 3:45 left in the opening stanza.
The Jet lead remained 3-0 all the way through the second period. The Wilderness then began a surge in the early stages of the third period. After forcing Janesville to a series of icing calls and getting offensive zone face-offs, the Wilderness tenacity paid off with Tugolukov being the recipient of a centering pass from Colton Nestler, which resulted in Tugolukov whipping a wrist shot into the back of the net to make it 3-1. It’s the third goal of the season for the forward from Coppell, TX, which also featured an assist and first point with the Wilderness for Landon Peterson.
That was followed by Johnson going bar down just 2:08 later to cut the deficit to one by notching his eighth of the campaign, with assists from Logan Nagle and Gustavs Ozolins.
Wagener then cooled down the Wilderness with his second of the evening with 2:06 left in regulation, and then completed his hat trick by posting an empty-net goal with 24 seconds on the clock.
The Wilderness outshot the Jets 41-27, including a 12-4 advantage in the third period. Adam Prokop took the loss in goal making 22 saves on 26 Jet shots. Janesville’s Matthew Alberti earned the victory with a 39-save performance.
On the power play, both teams were held scoreless on three chances.
The win moves Janesville (19-10-3) into a tie with the Wilderness (19-11-3) for first place in the Midwest Division.
Minnesota will seek to bounce back next weekend with another home series. The Wilderness will host the Anchorage Wolverines at Northwoods Credit Union Arena January 5 and 6, with both games starting at 7:15 p.m.