Lumberjacks shut out Thunderhawks

A third period offensive explosion helped propel the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team to a 6-0 thumping of Grand Rapids on Tuesday night in Cloquet. Leading 3-0 entering the final period, the 'Jacks broke the game open with three goals to secure the shutout win.

CEC opened the scoring early in the first period on a pretty goal by Gavin Rasmussen which was set up by Jon Baker and finished up when Landon Langenbrunner slipped a pass to Rasmussen from behind the net. Rasmussen gathered in the puck and scored his eighth goal of the season as he slid the puck between the legs of Thunderhawk goalie Carter Clafton. Rasmussen's goal came just 1:06 into the game.

"Starting quick and putting them on their heels right away is one our goals with the mindset of sustaining that pace throughout the game," said CEC coach Shea Walters.

Things got interesting in the second period when CEC's Aaron Moore went off for a holding penalty at the 4:18 mark, putting the 'Jacks a man down. CEC reacted quickly when Cade Anderson, Rasmussen and Kade Bender caught the Grand Rapids defense bunched up at the blue line on the left point and managed to squirt the puck free sending Bender in all alone on Clafton for a shorthanded goal at 4:43.

"That was an extremely great effort by the unit as a whole," Walters said. "If Cade (Anderson) doesn't win that battle and Rasmussen doesn't chip the puck out like we've been working on, Bender doesn't get the opportunity. You have to give a lot of credit to Bender on the goal, he has been very clutch in those situations."

CEC added to their lead when Cole Ketola scored a power play goal on assists from Sam Olson and Landon Langenbrunner at 12:47 of the second period with Thunderhawk defender Kameron Jaeger in the penalty box for hooking.

Towards the end of the second period, the 'Jacks took a five-minute penalty for boarding, but the CEC penalty kill responded and just a second before the period ended Grand Rapids forward Hunter Bischoff went to the penalty box, essentially negating the power play for the rest of the boarding penalty.

"Our penalty kill was very good and we didn't give them many opportunities and that can be challenging since they can score as many as they want during that five minutes," Walters said. "Our body language was good and we were in good spots with good sticks."

Entering the third period, the 'Jacks led 3-0 on the scoreboard and they held a 24-13 shot advantage. Grand Rapids came out and pushed the pace and had CEC on its heels right at the start of the period.

"We told the guys in the locker room that we have to continue to push the pace and continue to keep the game simple," Walters said. "Having a lead like we did it is easy to stray away from the game that got you into that position."

The 'Jacks heeded the warning and, once they managed to turn the pace back in their direction, the floodgates opened with three straight goals. First it was Landon Langenbrunner on assists from Mason Langenbrunner and Christian Galatz making it 4-0. The Langenbrunner goal was followed by a nifty play by Andy Acers, who collected his own rebound and went around the net stuffing home the goal on assists by Ketola and Jake Huhta. Finally Rasmussen added his second goal of the game at the 8:57 mark on assists by Mason Langenbrunner and Bender, pushing the game into running time.

Perhaps lost to fans in the stands in the win was the solid goaltending of CEC goalie Owen Carlson.

"Owen has been playing very well lately," Walters said. "He is seeing the puck and not giving up second opportunities. He is deflecting pucks into the corners or into the netting which helps our entire team out as a whole. He is focused and we expect him to bring that to every game."

After a slow start to the season the Lumberjacks are now 7-9 after playing an extremely tough schedule.

"I am very happy with the win and the fact that we controlled almost every area of the game and that is what we are looking for," Walters said. "If you look back at our last couple of games, we have out-chanced the opposition with not a lot to show for it, so for our guys to come out and score on the first shift relieved some of that pressure."

The Lumberjacks had a solid overall defensive effort from the entire team and Walters hoped it would continue Thursday on the road against Duluth Denfeld at the Heritage Center. CEC hosts Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl on Tuesday at Northwoods Credit Union Arena.