The Blue Devils blew the game open in the second period, scoring three times to put the game out of reach and send the Yellowjackets home with a 4-1 loss.

With the loss the Yellowjackets passed up a golden opportunity to create some separation between themselves and UW-Stevens Point, who earlier in the evening lost to UW-Eau Claire.  Instead, they now find themselves heading to Stevens Point on Friday, February 1 to do battle with the Pointers with third place on the line.

UW-Stout opened the scoring at 10:29 of the first period when Scott Bell scored on a wrist shot between the circles to make it 1-0.  Less than a minute later the Yellowjackets tied it up.  Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) sent a pass to the left wing to Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) whose shot from the circle was stopped, but Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) poked home the rebound to even the score.  It was the Forsythe's fifth goal of the season and snapped a six-game goal drought.

The Blue Devils came out in the second period and employed a relentless attack, outshooting the Yellowjackets 11-9 in the frame and outscoring the m 3-0.

Gavin Tufte scored his first of the season just 1:39 into the period, putting home a rebound of a point shot to make it 2-1.  Exactly two minutes later it went to 3-1 when a Jason Cohen shot went wide of the net, but the carom found Mike Hartviksen to the left of the goal and he banked a shot in off Ryan Pinoniemi (Delano, Minn./Delano) for his fourth of the season.

A few minutes later the Blue Devils closed out the scoring when Hartviksen broke into the Yellowjacket zone on the right side and sent a shot on goal.  Pinoniemi made the save and the rebound popped into the air, but Zach Vierling batted it out of the air and into the goal for his eighth of the season and it was 4-1.

The Yellowjackets started the third period on the power play, but were unable to convert on the golden opportunity to climb back into the game.  Still, the man advantage provided the Yellowjackets with some momentum, as they outshot Stout 11-3 for the period, but the offense just didn't come back and they were handed their sixth loss in their last seven games.

Pinoniemi made his third straight start and was tagged with the loss, falling to 2-2-0 on the year.  He finished the game with 19 saves.  At the other end, longtime Yellowjacket nemesis Nick Hopper was again solid, making 30 saves in the winning effort.

In a clean game, the Yellowjackets took just two penalties for four minutes, while Stout took three for six minutes.  Both teams went scoreless on the power play, the Yellowjackets 0-for-3 and Stout 0-for-2.

The Yellowjackets (11-9-1, 6-7-1 NCHA) will play an exhibition game on Sunday, January 27 when they host the USA Hockey National Team Development Program at Wessman Arena.  Game time is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS, beginning with the pre-game show at 4:45 p.m.  If you are outside the local listening area you can tune in on the web through the iFan Sports Network.  The game can also be watched live on UW-Superior's online video partner, AmericaOne.  Jon Garver will have the call.