Windigo score seven in Steel opener, fall in finale in Chippewa Falls

The Wisconsin Windigo were back on the road last weekend and split two contests with the Chippewa Steel after getting swept at home by the Anchorage Wolverines a weekend prior.
Wisconsin left no doubt in game one Friday with a 7-2 win before the Steel rebounded and held the Windigo to two goals Saturday in a 4-2 win.

Windigo 7, Steel 2

Chippewa opened the game with an early goal at 1:51 of the first period. Ben Aucoin answered for the Windigo by scoring at 4:38 for the 1-1 tie. The two sides would skate to that score for the remainder of the period before Wisconsin’s offense exploded with four second-period goals.
Four different skaters tallied a goal in the period, including Samuel Misak opening the period with a goal 46 seconds in. Beau Kralovec followed that up to give the Windigo a two-score cushion, 3-1, and then Ronnie Hill and Mario DiMaggio scored 13 seconds apart, at 11:32 and 11:45, to open the game up to 5-1.

The defense was pretty busy in the second as Chippewa fired 10 shots on goaltender Lucas Szyszka, who saved all 10 in the frame.
Declan Burns got in the scoring action in the third, making it a 6-1 on a new goalkeeper, before the Steel finally beat Szyszka again about midway through the period.
Burns tallied his second of the frame later to close out the scoring.

Windigo 2, Steel 4

It was a much different story for the Windigo offense in game two. A fast start on both sides made it a 2-2 game in the middle stages of the first period. The Steel capitalized on a power play chance with less than 50 seconds left before the first-period horn and the game turned into a defensive battle the rest of the way.

The Windigo outshot the Steel 17-11 in the final two periods, but none got past the Steel’s Carter Wishart.
Nine penalties also put the Windigo in tight spots as they were forced to play shorthanded throughout the night, including three 10-minute unsportsmanlike penalties.
Next up for the Windigo is another home series, this time a two-game tilt with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Friday and Saturday, Dec. 20-21. Both games are set for 7 p.m.
With an early deadline of next Friday for the holiday, there will not be a Windigo story in the Dec. 25 edition. The team will not play again until after the new year, where they will face the Kenai River Brown Bears in Eagle River, Jan. 3-4.