Blue Jays tally 7
It was quite fitting that Tuesday’s first goal of the evening between the Jamestown boys hockey team and Mandan had something to do with the penalty box.By: By Michael Savaloja, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
- Image
- Image
It was quite fitting that Tuesday’s first goal of the evening between the Jamestown boys hockey team and Mandan had something to do with the penalty box.
Blue Jay senior forward Alex Williams had just exited the box with 6:05 left in the opening period, when his stick found the puck at center ice and he was all of a sudden one-on-one with Mandan goalie Tucker Bruington.
Williams stuffed it home stick side on Bruington, tallying the first of 7 Blue Jay goals as Jamestown took down Mandan 7-4 at Wilson arena.
“(Jakobi Lux) chipped the puck off the glass, and (Williams) almost didn’t catch,” JHS coach Matt Stockert said. “But I think the 5 pounds he lost over the summer helped out a little bit. It was all timing, and he picked it up and put it in the net.”
Mandan and Jamestown kept the officials busy all evening, with Jamestown picking up 4 minors and the Braves racking up 9 minors and a 5-minute major. Mandan senior defensive Zach Dittus was ejected from the game in third period, after picking up the major on a checking from behind call.
Dittus had already earned a roughing and an unsportsmanlike conduct minors, which were assessed with 11 seconds left in the first period, as Jamestown started the second with a 3-0 lead.
“I thought the penalties that they called were all good penalties,” Stockert said. “We had a lot of penalties too, so we’ve got to figure out how we can stay a little bit more poised and disciplined and make sure we stay out of the box.”
The Blue Jays capitalized on the Mandan penalties throughout the game, especially in building their 3-0 lead after one. After Williams’ goal, Lux scored during a Jamestown 5-on-3 advantage (10:59), which was followed with a power-play goal from Nick Stockert 1 minute, 26 seconds later.
The Braves cut the lead to 3-2 in the third on a short-handed goal by Brady Zittleman and an unassisted goal by Trever Leingang with 4;46 left before the third. But Jamestown closed out the second with goals from freshman Austin Rene and junior Brady Hoggarth.
Hoggarth’s goal was also scored on the power play. Rene scored his second goal of the game later in the third, giving him 7 goals on the season.
“We changed one unit up on our power play, and I think overall it’s starting to pay off a little bit for us,” Stockert said. “We’ve got two units out there doing two different things. We’re attacking the net like we need to attack the net.
“Good things are coming of it and we’re scoring some power play goals.”
Jamestown put the game away in the third. Following Rene’s goal with 12:27 left in the game, Jake Stilwell’s 26th goal of the season came just over a minute later to put the Jays out front 7-2.
Both Jamestown senior goalies saw action in the Blue Jays’ final home game of the season. Tygh Yatskis picked up 9 saves, while Ben Walz notched 10.
Jamestown has now won two straight, after defeating Devils Lake 8-3 in Devils Lake on Saturday. The Blue Jays wrap up the regular season on Thursday at Bismarck High.
The West Region tournament begins next Thursday (Feb. 14) in Minot. The Blue Jays are currently the No. 5 seed, but they can earn the No. 4 seed with a victory on Thursday and a Bismarck loss to Bottineau/Rugby.
“It’s good to get on a roll like that. We’ve got Bismarck on Thursday, and they’ve been playing really good hockey,” Stockert said. “It’s region time, almost, and you need to be playing your best hockey to get to Grand Forks a week later, and I think we’re slowly getting to that point.”
Jamestown 7, Mandan 4
Mandan 0 2 2 — 4
Jamestown 3 2 2 — 7
Scoring summary
First period
1, J, Alex Williams (Jakobi Lux), 10:55; 2, J, Lux (Jake Stilwell, Williams), 10:59 (5-on-3); 3, J, Nick Stockert (Austin Rene), 14:25 (PP).
Second period
4, M, Brady Zittleman (Tre Kautzman), 8:30 (SH); 5, M, Trever Leingang (unassisted), 12:14; 6, J, Rene (Stockert, Tommy Bruns), 12:46; 7, J, Brady Hoggarth (Rene), 15:36 (PP).
Third period
8, J, Rene (Stockert, Bruns), 4:33; 9, J, Stilwell (unassisted), 5:56; 10, M, Kautzman (Zittleman, Grant Assand), 6:38; 11, M, Kautzman (Aric Riopelle), 9:48 (SH).
Goalie saves: M, Tucker Bruington 11-14-x—25, Lucas Bussman x-1-8—9; J, Tygh Yatskis 6-3-x—9, Ben Walz x-2-8—10.
Penalties: M, 10 for 23 minutes (one major); J, 4 for 8 minutes.
Records: Jamestown 10-10, 9-6 West Region; Mandan 7-13, 5-10 West Region.
Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at msavaloja@jamestownsun.com
More from around the web
RSS Feeds