Jenuwine OT winner completes four goal Wings rally

After nearly 100 minutes, Logan Jenuwine’s goal lifted the visiting Aberdeen Wings to a 4-3 win the second overtime period against the host Minnesota Wilderness at Northwood Credit Union Arena in North American Hockey League playoff action at Cloquet, MN Friday (April 28, 2017).

All four of the NAHL Division Championship Series began on Friday – two of them involving Midwest-based teams.

The Janesville jets opened on home ice against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs and used a two-goal performance from Joseph Abate to pace them to a 4-1 win at Janesville Ice Arena.

Wings 4 at Wilderness 3

The Wings charged all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to capture a huge road win after behind held off the scoreboard until the final seconds of the second period.

Zach Mills fired the lone goal of the opening period late in the frame and Louis Roehl doubled the Wilderness margin with this tally 17 seconds into the middle frame.

Tim Nicksic added a third Wilderness goal and it appeared the team would carry a comfortable three-goal cushion into the third before Carter Roo notched the first Wings’ goal of the contest with 11 seconds on the clock.

Kevin Fitzgerald opened the door a little further with his goal 6:23 from the final buzzer and Colin Raver completed the comeback 2:21 later, setting the stage for Jenuwine who scored with just 1:57 to go in the second overtime segment.

Forbes Ploszaj turned aside 50 Wilderness shots in goal for the Wings and was unbeaten on 27 shots through the final three periods. Luke Kania handled 62 of 66 in goal for the Wilderness.

Teams will get a short turnaround before heading into a rematch, also in Cloquet Saturday (April 29)

Ice Dogs 1 at Jets 4

Abate put the Jets on the board just 96 seconds into this one and another, from Frank Sullivan had the home team up 2-0 after a period.

Chris Dodero widened the gap with the lone goal of the second period and Abate wrapped up the home team’s scoring with just 3:24 to play in the contest.

The Ice Dogs gained some consolation as Nolan Schaeffer’s goal shattered the shutout bid of Janesville goaltender Jacob Barczewski with just under two minutes to go.

Barczewski ended up with 19 saves in the contest while Erik Gordon stopped 20 in goal for the Ice Dogs.

The Jets will also host Game 2 of the series on Saturday (April 29) before teams head to Alaska for games three and four (if necessary).