Who: Minnesota Wilderness vs. Springfield Jr. Blues
When: April 12-13, 7:15 p.m. CDT both nights
Where: Nelson Center, Springfield, IL
The Lead: After splitting a series in Cloquet, the Wilderness and Jr. Blues meet in Springfield to finish the regular season.
Media: All of the action can be seen on nahltv.com.
Records: Springfield – 58 games, 20-29-9, 49 points; Minnesota – 58 games, 29-24-5, 63 points
Midwest Division Standings:
| Place | Team | Points | Games Played | This weekend’s opponent | Clinched playoffs |
| 1 | Anchorage | 84 | 58 | 2 games @ Fairbanks | X |
| 1 | Wisconsin | 84 | 60 | Idle | X |
| 3 | Janesville | 71 | 59 | 1 game @ Chippewa | X |
| 4 | Minnesota | 63 | 58 | 2 games @ Springfield | |
| 5 | Chippewa | 62 | 59 | 1 game vs. Janesville | |
| 6 | Springfield | 49 | 58 | 2 games vs. Wilderness | |
| 7 | Fairbanks | 48 | 58 | 2 games vs. Anchorage | |
| 8 | Kenai River | 46 | 60 | Idle |
Last Weekend:
- Springfield took game 1 vs. the Wilderness on April 4, 5-4.
- In game 2, the squads were scoreless all the way into overtime when the Wilderness scored to win, 1-0.
Season series: Minnesota leads the 2023-24 season series 4-2. The two squads first met in Proctor on Sept. 29-30 in a pair of games which the Wilderness swept. That was followed by a split series in Springfield on Feb. 16-17, and the two games played last weekend.
Tale of the tape: Source: nahl.com
| Team | GF | GA | PP | PK | PIMs |
| Springfield | 144 | 213 | 12.9% | 79.8% | 859 |
| Wilderness | 152 | 163 | 19.4% | 84.7% | 750 |
Birthday: Nash Jacobsma – April 12 (21)
Playoff Scenario: The Wilderness could have a playoff spot clinched before playing Friday. If Janesville beats Chippewa in Chippewa Falls Thursday night, that would eliminate Chippewa from playoff contention and nail down the final Midwest Division playoff spot for the Wilderness. Chippewa currently sits in fifth place, one point behind Minnesota, and has just Thursday’s game vs. Janesville left on its regular season schedule. In order to remain in contention, the Steel must win Thursday. If the Steel win Thursday, the Wilderness can still clinch with either a win or an overtime/shooutout loss in either of its games this weekend in Springfield. If the Steel and Wilderness finish the season tied in points, the Wilderness would win the tiebreakers and would get the division’s final playoff spot.
Murray Mania: The goal Nate Murray scored Saturday marked his second game-winning goal this season. The 19-year old from Fowlerville’s has scored five times in the 16 games played since he joined the Wilderness. He posted his first game-winner in his second game vs. Kenai River. Much like the goal he scored last Saturday, his first game-clincher was also in overtime. Murray, who has committed to Colorado College, has also recorded six assists for 11 points.
Team Shutouts: After racking up two shutouts in the last 4 games, the Wilderness has climbed back to the top of the league team shutout rankings. The Wilderness are tied for the NAHL lead in blanking opponents with 10. Adam Prokop backstopped the last two shutouts, including last Saturday’s 1-0 overtime win over Springfield. That was Prokop’s shutout on the season. Nick Erickson leads the Wilderness with five, while Loris Uberti posted one over the nine games he played. The Lone Star Brahmas and Bismarck Bobcats are also tied for the NAHL lead with 10 team shutouts.
Logan’s Run: If your bingo card had the named “Logan” having a good night for Springfield on April 4, you would have been able to take home some cash. Three players named Logan scored goals in the Jr. Blues 5-4 win over the Wilderness. Logan Opgrand was the first, with his marker late in the second period—which was his first ever Jr. A goal. He was followed by Logan Sutton notching a goal which tied the game at 4 at 4:28 of the third. Logan Ganz then completed the “Logan Trick” by recording what ended up being the game-winning goal with 11:36 left in regulation time. Sutton also registered an assist bringing the total points in the game for the Logan trio to four.