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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Kyle Leahy
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Yellowjackets tie again

Kyle Leahy
Box Score

Yellowjackets 3, Eau Claire 3
Box Score

For fans of the Yellowjackets men's hockey team, the current stretch of hockey offers a "good news, bad news" scenario.  First the good news - the Yellowjackets are now unbeaten in their last six games.  And the bad news - they've won only once in that span. 

On Friday at UW-Eau Claire, the Yellowjackets fell behind twice, and twice they were able to claw their way back.  In the end, neither team could go ahead for good and they skated to a 3-3 tie at the Hobbs Ice Center.

The Yellowjackets (9-8-7, 4-6-7 NCHA) have now tied three straight games and five times in their last six.  They are one tie and one overtime game away from tying school records in those departments.

More important, however, was that the one point they gained in the standings solidifies their playoff position.  Regardless of the outcome in the season finale on Saturday, the Yellowjackets are locked into fifth place in the NCHA standings, meaning they will play on the road in the first round of the Peters Cup Playoffs.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring in Friday's game when their much-maligned power play converted early.  Breaking out of their own zone, Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) fed a pass ahead to the Eau Claire line, hitting Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) in stride.  Massingham bounced off a check and went in alone, firing a shot past Eau Claire goaltender Brandon Stephenson on the stick side to make it 1-0.  The goal, which came at 5:46, was the fourth of the year for Massingham and snapped an 11-game goal drought.

Eau Claire would tie the game with a late power play goal of their own.  A shot from the point was deflected multiple times and came to the right post, where Tyler Romasco was in the right place and the right time and he had a wide open to shoot into, tying the game at 1-1 with 2:54 to play in the period.  The Blugolds would take the lead with just over 30 seconds to play in the first.  Jordan Singer took a pass in the neutral zone and streaked into Yellowjacket territory on the right side, getting a step on the defender and driving the net hard, lifting a shot over the shoulder of Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) to make it 2-1.

In the second the Yellowjackets would tie it up, and again it was the power play getting it done.  Off a face-off, Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) poked the puck to the left point and Brad Phenow (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) let a shot go that was stopped, but Leahy was on the doorstep to bang home the rebound for his sixth goal of the year, making it a 2-2 game at 7:29 of the period. 

The Blugolds would again get the lead before the second period ended, thanks in part to a little bit of what hockey people call "puck luck."  A blown defensive assignment by the Yellowjackets left Travis Peckskamp all alone coming down the slot.  He took a centering pass and tipped it toward the goal, beating Strandberg, but the puck hit the post.  The carome off the post shot out to the left of the goal, right back to Peckskamp, and he put it home at 12:17 of the middle frame, making it 3-2.

Early in the third period, the Yellowjackets again drew even.  Andy Singerhouse (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray) had the puck on the left wall and moved it ahead to Justin Faryna (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop McNally).  Faryna performed some nifty stickhandling, getting by a defender and snapping a shot from the right circle that beat Stephenson on the glove side, deadlocking the game at 3-3.  It was the sixth of the year for Faryna.

Play, which was choppy with a lot of whistles for a majority of the game, went back-and-forth the rest of the way.  Each team had opportunities to break the tie, but each time either Strandberg or Stephenson was there to deny it.  In the overtime, the Yellowjackets outshot the Blugolds 5-2 and had the best scoring chance when Hotchkin made a strong move along the goal line, getting the puck to the goal crease.  Massingham was driving the net looking for the rebound, but Stephenson just laid down, freezing the puck underneath him to preserve the stalemate.

Each team took four penalties for eight minutes in the game.  The Yellowjackets went 2-4 on the power play, while the Blugolds went 1-4.  The Eau Claire power play goal snapped a streak of 17 consecutive successful penalty kills for the Yellowjackets.

Strandberg was the goalie of record, facing 31 shots and making 28 saves.  Stephenson made 35 saves for Eau Claire.

The Yellowjackets will close out the regular season on Saturday, February 11, when they take on UW-River Falls at W.H. Hunt Arena.  Game time is 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live locally on 91.3 FM KUWS, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.  The game can also be heard live on the Internet at www.ifan.tv.  Jon Garver will have the call.

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