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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Jeff Forsythe
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Forsythe, Dalbec lead Yellowjackets over Bison

Jeff Forsythe
Box Score

Yellowjackets 6, Nichols 2
Box Score

The Yellowjacket men's hockey team took to the ice for the first time in nearly a month on Friday, January 4, and despite the 27-day layoff, there was no rust to be found in its first game of 2013.  After a scoreless first period, the Yellowjackets turned on the offense and buried the Bison from Nichols College, 6-2 at Wessman Arena.

Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) paced the offense, each scoring two goals and an assist in the Yellowjackets' tenth win of the season, matching their win total from all of last season.

A penalty on the Bison late in the first period carried over into the second frame, and the Yellowjackets took advantage early.  Just 41 seconds in Dalbec ripped a shot from the right circle that beat Bison goaltender Alex Larson up high to make it 1-0.  The power play goal was the 11th of the year for the Yellowjackets' top scorer.  Forsythe and Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) assisted. 

The early goal was a good omen for the Yellowjackets, who entered the game 9-0-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.  The goal also got the Yellowjackets rolling, as they began to assert their will over the visitors from the east following the tally.

The lead went to 2-0 at 12:54 of the second period when Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) came off the left board and found Forsythe in the right circle.  The junior defenseman had time and he made the Bison pay, picking the top right corner for his third goal of the season.  Leahy picked up his second assist of the game on the goal and the Yellowjackets, who outshot Nichols 15-4 in the period went to the locker room up two after two periods.

In the third period the Yellowjackets blew the game open, scoring four times in the first 11:10.  Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) scored his second goal of the year just 1:16 in, banking a centering pass off a defender and past Larson to make it 3-0.  Brett Meyers (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) got the lone assist.  Minutes later at 8:11 it went to 4-0 when Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) carried into the Nichols zone on the left wing and made a perfect pass across the slot to Dalbec who was breaking to the net.  All Dalbec had to do was redirect the puck into the awning cage for his second of the game and 12th of the year.  Massingham also picked up an assist on the play.

The offensive onslaught continued just 1:29 later when Forsythe, on an assist from Dalbec, fired a one-timer from the top of the right circle past Larson to make it 5-0.  The power play marker was Forsythe's fourth of the year.  A minute-and-a-half later the Yellowjackets scored again.  Meyers fed a pass from the left corner to Ryan Hill (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) at the left point, and his shot was tipped home by Dion, his fourth goal of the year to make it a 6-0 game.  The goal also marked the end of the night for Bison goaltender Alex Larson, who was replaced by Patrick Salkind, who played the final 8:50.

Nichols finally broke through at 14:40 of the third period when Joe Sposit banged a puck past Yellowjacket goaltender Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I), ending his shutout bid and making the game 6-1.  It was the first goal that Strandberg had allowed in 114:40 of play.  Just 23 seconds later the Bison struck again as Frank Butler scored a power play goal from a shallow angle to make the final score 6-2.

In addition to Dalbec and Forsythe, Massingham, Leahy, Meyers and Dion all had multi-point games as the Yellowjackets tied their season high for goals in a game on the year.

Strandberg picked up his eighth win of the season, making 17 saves in the game.  Larson was tagged with the loss and falls to 3-3-0 on the year.  He made 24 saves while his replacement, Salkind, made seven stops.

The Yellowjackets went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Bison were 1-for-3 with the man advantage. 

The Yellowjackets were penalized three times for six minutes, while the Bison took four minors for eight minutes in the cleanly played contest.

The Yellowjackets (10-3-1, 5-2-1 NCHA) return to the ice in their second game of the 2013 East/West Hockey Showdown on Saturday, January 5 when they will take on the Colonels of Curry College.  Game time from Wessman Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.  Listen online through the iFan Sports Network and watch the game via pay-per-view on UW-Superior's official online content provider, AmericaOne.  Jon Garver will have the call.
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